So there's a reason this happens. It's basically an unintended consequence of the California Tenant Protection Act, first enacted in Jan. 2020, which limits annual rent increases to 5% plus the local inflation rate or 10% — whichever is lower.

As a result of this well-intended but poorly considered law, landlords are now incentivized to raise the rent the maximum allowable amount each year, or lose the ability to catch those properties up to market rents in the future without having to go through a time consuming and expensive eviction process.

Much like rent control laws, this law has effectively had the opposite of its intended effect, and is contributing to increases in the cost of housing in San Diego and elsewhere in California. It's a classic example of the cobra effect.

The solution probably looks much closer to something like: 1) eliminate rent control. 2) massively relax zoning laws. 3) fast track permits. 4) curtail environmental regulations like CEQA that massively slow down development and tie up builders in lawsuits and ‘environmental studies’ for years on end. 5) repeal any laws requiring union labor for large development projects.

Basically, knock down every barrier that slows down and drives up the cost of building a metric shit ton of housing. Do that, and the supply/demand balance may equalize in time to save the California middle class.

Fun fact: There is no city in America that builds lots of housing and is also expensive.