LA has been an expensive area for real estate for much more than a decade, so blaming the Chinese isn’t going to explain it. Going back to post WWII, look at real estate prices in LA compared to the national average. It’s been a problem for at least 60 years. Also, look at what happened after rent controls started in LA in 1978. Those controls just made things worse...as they always do.
Chinese buyers are ONE factor in the current market as they have been since about 2000.
Well I’ve been hearing the China Full Cash Buyer tale for years from my friends here in SoCal who sell real estate, and they tend to know who is buying their listings. I don’t think they are making it all up.
Oddly enough, some of us who have lived in SoCal for the last 50 years actually do have some idea of what goes on here. Why freepers who don’t live in California have more expertise than those of us who are here is just one of life’s mysteries.