The U.S. does not have a housing shortage
The word “shortage” has a very specific meaning. It refers to the inability to purchase a good at the current market price (or at any price). Rent control, which restricts the legal price of...
San Francisco city council targets free speech to cover up its own housing failures
The San Francisco city council is smashing the mirror because it doesn’t like the face staring back at it.
The council just approved a ban on websites that offer data about local rental markets and...
INFOGRAPHIC: Appliance payoff models explode
^58 percent increase in requested quotes to thousands of appliance repair businesses y/y (2022-2023)
^43 percent increase in appliance spend in 2023 compared to 2013—rising from $390 to $558 over the decade
Why? 1987. Home appliances...
Affordable housing in the U.S.
Housing affordability has emerged as a key issue in this year’s U.S. presidential election. Both Democrat Kamala Harris and Republican Donald Trump have talked about what they would do to increase the supply of...
Is land-use regulation holding back construction productivity?
Ed Glaeser is perhaps the pre-eminent urban economist working today, and I’ve cited his work repeatedly when looking at land-use restrictions and burdens on new development.
So I was very interested to see he’s coauthored...
Rents fall behind inflation
Tracking rents is important for understanding the dynamics of the housing market. For example, the sharp increase in rents helped me deduce that there was a surge in household formation in 2021 (September 2021:...
Investors circle overleveraged apartments
Rescue capital is available for apartment borrowers that need it, but relatively few owners of over-leveraged apartment properties are willing to pay the price—so far.
High interest rates have stranded the owners of over-leveraged apartment...
Rent control still the wrong solution to housing woes
Restricting the price of housing kills incentives to supply places to live.
Rent control is having something of a moment: In Los Angeles, tenants are invoking a law that imposes limits on apartments built on...
Affordability is re-emerging as a tailwind for market-rate apartments.
Affordability is re-emerging as a tailwind for market-rate apartments. One takeaway from data discussed on a RealPage podcast this week is that rent-to-income ratios have returned to pre-pandemic levels, suggesting affordability issues...
Market set for recovery
The multifamily housing market is showing promising signs of recovery, with recent data from CoStar Group revealing a significant increase in demand and stabilization of vacancy rates.
Absorption rates have notably risen from 118,000 units...
Deal watch
Oliver Emerson Development, a father-son duo, wants to turn the former Rockford Watch Co. factory in Rockford, Illinois, into affordable housing.
“To be able to do it with my father and be able to contribute...
Why Johnny can’t build
We were once a nation of builders—from the toll roads and canals of the early nineteenth century and the railroads of the second half of that busy century, to the construction of power, energy,...
Opportunity Zones: A path forward
Opportunity Zones (OZs) have emerged as a significant tool in driving investment into underdeveloped areas, offering a compelling case for their continuation and expansion. Since their inception in 2017, OZs have attracted nearly $100...
INFOGRAPHIC: Disparate impact of high interest rates
Disparate impact of high interest rates has adversely impacted millions of low- and middle-income families—and housing providers. More often high interest rates depress stock and housing prices, and other asset values— impacting all income...
Paying the fox to watch the chickens: The war on private housing
Despite the rise in homelessness, the federal government continues to raise the barrier to creating shelter for those without permanent housing. Infusing bad actors with HUD money is another layer.
In September the Biden admin....
