I have been a Real Estate Developer for 25 years and government regulations on both the local and federal level have a drastic effect on the increase in price and adds dramatically to the affordable housing crisis. I have developed in over 15 states and the blue states not only take significantly longer to get project approved (carry costs) but the difference in impact and permit fees is dramatic adding significant costs to development which ends up adding to a the cost of the developed properties. If you want to take it a step further look at the regulations in Logging , trucking, manufacturing etc and it would be my guess that nearly 40% of the cost of any property goes directly into the pockets of government at some level. I developed a commercial project in Afton, Wy and the total permits and fees charged by the city was less than 3k and took a total of three weeks. The identical project was to be built near Seattle and permits and fees were to be over 900k and take 18-24 months for approval.
I teach development courses at USU and am considering a research project in conjunction with my students to identify the exact % of the cost of a home which ends up in government pockets.