California is well known to have some of the most stringent development regulations in the country. While some of those regulations are admirable and focused on community safety and health, they often trade off construction affordability.

"There has been a tradeoff in terms of growing regulations and affordability. California has CALGreen codes, the first-in-the-nation mandatory green building standard, to reduce greenhouse gases," Sonnet Hui, general manager and VP of Project Management Advisors, tells GlobeSt.com. "The aim of that program is admirable, but it requires certain construction considerations at the infrastructure level—like the ability to add solar panels or electric charging stations—that make projects more expensive than they would be otherwise."

But ambitions aren't alone. Many of the regulations put pressure on development pricing. "There are also a number of ways municipal regulations contribute to rising costs, through requirements like parking minimums, which mandate additional space or structures for parking, and entitlement delays, which can cause a project to lose momentum," says Hui.