The data from the City of Davis’ housing production report shows that the city has built very little housing overall, particularly ownership housing, and that increasing housing supply is one of the most practical ways to address affordability pressures.
The Village Farms development in Davis, California is projected to have an average sales price of $740,000 for medium-density homes, but the actual cost will depend on a variety of fluctuating factors, and the project will also include 360 affordable rental units, making the claim that all homes will start at $740,000 misleading.
A new study from the Georgetown Center on Poverty and Inequality has found that new housing stock in six high-growth metropolitan areas primarily served moderate- and higher-income households, while lower-income households experienced higher rent growth than higher-income households.
The argument that declining birth rates will eventually relieve housing pressure is flawed, as it ignores the economic, migratory, and climate forces that will shape demand far more powerfully than fertility trends in the decades ahead, and the housing crisis is a present shortfall that needs to be addressed now.
Institutional investors are being blamed for driving up home prices, but the real cause of the affordability crisis is chronic undersupply of housing due to restrictive zoning, procedural delays, and legal challenges.
Ned Resnikoff argues that the housing affordability debate has shifted to a contradictory phase in which critics of new housing construction rely on abstract theory while dismissing empirical evidence showing that expanded housing supply improves affordability.
The America First Policy Institute released a housing policy brief arguing that excessive regulation, fees and permitting delays are contributing to the housing affordability crisis and proposing a supply-focused agenda to restore access to homeownership for American families.
A newly published paper in the European Economic Review finds that construction – specifically the supply and price of buildings – plays a central role in determining workers’ wages and the share of income going to labor, with important implications for housing policy.
Despite the challenges of the statewide housing mandates, California cities are making progress in increasing housing production, as evidenced by the recent approval of the first project under San José’s new streamlined infill policy and the progress of Fresno’s Southeast Development Area plan.
Montgomery County, Maryland has seen a drastic decrease in multifamily building permits since the adoption of rent control, raising questions about the effectiveness of such policies in increasing housing supply.
The US is facing a housing crisis due to a shortage of housing in the places where people want to live, which is driving up prices and pushing people out, and requires bold and evidence-based action to increase supply and make housing more affordable.
Increasing housing supply, both at the regional and neighborhood level, can significantly slow rent growth and benefit low-income renters the most by relieving pressure on the lower end of the housing market.