Repeat after me: building any new homes reduces housing costs for all
Repeat after me - the private housing sector is not going to build sufficient housing stock to tank prices in... the private housing sector. The housing market is red hot right now, and yet builders are loathe to invest in a major way, fearing a downturn that will impact their profit margins, even though they stand to make big bucks. But we somehow expect a building surge that will shift the market dynamics to make all housing worth less?<p>The only way to incentive construction is to incentive construction. NYC HPD is an agency, for example, that has a history of providing low interest rate loans for approved projects to rehab old buildings. With borrowing costs hovering at 8%-10% for new construction projects, and with lenders tightening standards, this is the perfect time for state governments and the federal government to provide 3% construction loans, accessed in tranches after milestones are met, to facilitate not only housing on the cheaper end of the spectrum, but lower-margin housing projects that established developers and big lenders typically shy away from.<p>Simply deregulating does not work, and it&#x27;s foolish to think it would. Lower cost housing, made profitable by public lenders as a last resort, is a no-brainer that gets lost in the discussion. As is rent control, by the way. But that won&#x27;t lead to the same cast of characters getting boffo bucks through deregulation, so neither option is taken seriously by Serious People.