I doubt this comes as a surprise to most economists. After all demand for housing is pretty inelastic, universal and the supply in terms of property is finite. It reaffirms my believe that restrictive zoning regulations are one of the leading causes of wealth inequality in modern economies. In the Vox article about the paper they mention that Lawrence Summers supports &quot;an easing of land-use restrictions&quot; because otherwise they &quot; [...] cause the real estate of the rich in major metropolitan areas to keep rising in value&quot;.