Politics does play a factor, but it is not the only factor. How much your money buys is multifactorial. Florida & Texas have similar politics, but Texas is better overall for your savings/value. Even if Florida is a low tax state; lower taxes than Texas, Texas has better overall geography, which includes natural resources. Many people don’t know that Florida has a state minimum wage that is expected to reach the legislated minimum of $15/hr. Texas has no state minimum wage. Nevertheless, Texas has a lower cost, and higher median wages. The ability to build housing involves political will against property owners who want more expensive properties to sell in the future. In California, the people are protective of their properties, and houses as an investment. The local governments protect those properties in their appraisal growth. For some bureaucratic reasons, California, and their local governments don’t do a comparable job in housing people compared to other states/cities. Regulations are often politicized, so yeah, politics is a factor.