UCLA Economists … California’s Economy to See Sluggish Recovery
California housing market
California’s unemployment rate, currently at 12.4 percent, will not return to single-digit levels until 2012 and the state’s inland areas will continue to be impaired by excess housing inventory and state budget cuts, according to a recent forecast by UCLA’s Anderson School of Business. Read more 
Californians Pack Their Bags for Other States
According to census estimates the number of people leaving California for another state outstripped the number moving in from another state during the year ending on July 1, 2008. California lost a net total of 144,000 people during that period — more than any other state.
Not to worry; California will not be empty any time soon. Actually, California continues to increase in overall population because of births and immigration, legal and illegal. It is the fourth consecutive year that more residents have left from California for other states than arrived in California from within the United States.
Why are are they moving?
#1. California's unemployment rate hit 8.4 percent in November, the third-highest in the nation, and it is expected to get worse.
#2. A record number of home foreclosures.
#3. Personal income was flat last year.
#4. A $41.6 billion budget hole over 18 months, have residents bracing for higher taxes, cuts in education and postponed tax rebates.
#5. Office vacancy rates in San Diego and San Jose surpass the 10.2 percent national average.
#6. Median housing prices have nose-dived one-third from a 2006 peak, but many homes are still out of reach for middle-class families. San Diego real estate agents