You should realize that California has the overwhelming majority of the homeless population in the US with almost a quarter of the entire homeless population living there[1][2]. You should also realize that SF and LA are two of most expensive cities in the US for housing - either renting or buying. As such Berlin is hardly a meaningful comparison. The homeless crisis in these two places is very well-known. Nobody is "cooking the books." Lastly California is not at all representative of the rest of the country.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homelessness_in_California

[2] https://worldpopulationreview.com/state-rankings/homeless-po...