Holland: From a California perspective, this is positive for San Diego since it makes our region more competitive with other regions of California. That being said, overall, California is a very expensive place to do business. High taxes, over-regulation and anti-business attitude from our political leaders in Sacramento all contribute to headwinds that hold back the full potential of our economy. Other states are being very aggressive, attracting companies by providing lower taxes, more affordable housing and economic incentives. So, San Diego is not only competing against other regions in the state; San Diego also competes with other states.

GlobeSt.com: What impact does this news have on the CRE industry?

Holland: For the CRE industry, employment is the main driver for office-space demand. So, if you have strong employment growth, you will have development. However, should employment growth be stifled by economic conditions such has high taxes, high housing costs, regulations that add up to 40% of housing costs, lack of affordable and available housing, lack of political will to create a business-friendly environment and crumbling/neglected infrastructure, California will continue to see companies relocating to lower-cost, business-friendly regions of the US.

GlobeSt.com: What else should our readers know about this finding?

Holland: The next obvious question in regard to comparing home prices is to ask about the incomes in each area. The San Diego's median income of $64,000 is lower than the median incomes of San Francisco, Silicon Valley and Orange County, but higher than that of Los Angeles. Relatively, San Diego is still better than all of these areas, though. For example, Orange County's median income is 19% higher than San Diego's, but its home prices are 29% higher. Ultimately, there are many different factors that go into the cost of living and affordability of these areas, and all of these markets have home prices among the highest in the nation. Lots of people still want to live and work in coastal California, and there are still people paying a premium to be here. San Diego has a lot to offer, including lower median home prices than any other coastal California market, according to CoreLogic.

SAN DIEGO—San Diego's housing prices makes the region more competitive with other regions of California, although the whole state is still a very expensive place to do business, JLL managing director Steve Holland tells GlobeSt.com. A recently released chart from the firm (shown below) reveals that San Diego has the lowest median home price among major coastal California cities. We spoke exclusively with Holland about why San Diego's housing prices undercut other local markets and what this means for the region.