The median price of a 2-bedroom apartment in San Francisco has spiked from $805,000 in 2014 to over $1.5 million in 2018. 

In Silicon Valley, rising real estate and rental prices have climbed so high that even well-paid tech company employees are struggling to find affordable housing. A recent study by EMC research found that 46 percent of Bay Area residents plan to leave in the next few years. 

Big Tech is part of the problem. Major companies are gobbling up property, which in turn drives up real estate prices. Google is building a mega-campus on this land. And Apple has already purchased several sites, including this area, which could result in a campus even bigger than its Apple Park headquarters it built in 2017, known as the 'Spaceship.’ 

"This is just pure economics. The more workers come in the more demand for housing, the more the guys who are selling houses drive up the prices. So, I think while it's a good gesture, it's going to have to be managed really, really well to have any impact," Tim Bajarin, President, Creative Strategies said. 

That's why in the past few months, the region's most valuable companies have come out with billion-dollar initiatives to combat the crisis. Companies including Google, Facebook and Apple are taking action by pledging billions dollars for affordable housing initiatives. 

Part of Apple's plan is a billion-dollar "affordable housing investment fund" that provides California with a line of credit to build "very low to-moderate”income housing. 

Another challenge however is creating the political will to produce affordable housing. Elected officials vote based on the sentiment of the people they represent, who often do not want below-market housing in their neighborhood. 

"Our elected officials at every level have to get behind the need to produce more housing when some of their constituents oppose it. And in some cases, we're just not there yet. 

There's still tremendous opposition. Incumbent homeowners who don't want to see any change and oppose new developments in neighborhoods…more density, which they claim would bring more traffic, etc,”Michael Lane, Dep. Director, Silicon Valley at Home said. 

Lane says because of the lack of affordable housing, more workers driving long distances to get to work, which has helped make San Francisco Bay area traffic the second-worst in the United States. 

The question is whether the companies known for solving complex issues can fix a problem their own success created.