If overcrowding is the problem, and you're looking at wealth, then you'd want to encourage the poor masses (the 99%) to leave, not the tiny population of the 1%.
Because the wealthy are the most salient aspect of this problem. They are the only ones that can afford the $4,000/mo rent and $2,000,000 "starter" homes in the neighborhood.
People feel like they are being forced out of their homes by these people and they are fighting back.
If the buyers that keep pushing the high end of the market higher, are the ones who leave, then the likely result is prices will fall until properties start moving again.
Is the problem overcrowding or empty housing? Because overcrowding implies that even with lower pricing... there still aren't enough houses to go around.
Empty housing is a different issue, and I'm not sure I've heard much of that being a problem in California (mostly heard this argument for Vancouver and NY)
