Decreasing Regulations, Increasing Supply of Market Rate Housing Critical to Affordability

In an opinion piece on Bloomberg View, Stony Brook University professor Noah Smith writes that in order to increase affordability, cities should do away with regulations that decrease density and require developers to build subsidized housing. Smith acknowledges the reality of “induced demand” where building more units could attract more people to a city, but he argues that in established cities like San Francisco this phenomenon is relatively muted. He points to studies done in 1987 and 2005 that suggest housing prices are higher in cities with more restrictions on development. Read more.