Housing Study

dredelstein · May 13, 2004, 12:02am

This is a useful study, reported in the SF Chronicle, for our
candidates to cite.
The study was done by two libertarian profs at SJSU, Ed Stringham and
Ben Powell.
......................................................................
............
Sacramento Bee, "Housing subsidies might be forcing prices higher"
http://www.sacbee.com/content/opinion/story/9076335p-10002232c.html
Viewed under the best possible light, using inclusionary zoning to
provide
low-income housing is like fighting a forest fire with a garden hose.
Under
the harsh light this study shines on the policy, that hose might be
spraying
fuel, rather than water, on the fire.

The San Francisco Chronicle, "Report decries housing rules"

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2004/04/15/BUG2A64FDA54.DTL&type=business
Zoning rules requiring builders to sell houses at below-market prices
to
lower-income earners have boosted costs for other new Bay Area homes
by up
to
$44,000 and squelched construction of roughly 10,700 new dwellings,
according to a
new study.

San Jose Mercury News, "Professors: Rules Restrict homes supply"
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/business/8436294.htm?1c
The report, titled ``Housing Supply and Affordability: Do Affordable
Housing
Mandates Work?'' was published by the Reason Public Policy Institute,
a Los
Angeles think tank with libertarian leanings.

San Louis Obispo Tribune, "Affordable housing mandates questioned"
http://www.sanluisobispo.com/mld/sanluisobispo/8437126.htm
Affordable housing mandates questioned
Inclusionary housing policies that allow moderate- and low-income
buyers to
purchase homes at below-market rates may actually raise the price of
housing
and result in fewer homes being built, according to a study released
today.

Lompoc Record, CA "Study: Some affordable housing laws don't work"
http://www.lompocrecord.com/articles/2004/04/17/news/news04.txt
By Erin Carlyle -- Staff Writer. 4/18/04 Affordable housing laws that
force developers to build price-restricted homes are not cost
effective, according to a study released this week.

Miami Herald, FL "Affordable Housing Rules Suppress Supply, San Jose,
Calif.,"

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/business/national/8439632.htm

Fifty cities in the Bay Area have so-called "inclusionary zoning"
ordinances, which mandate that housing developers rent or sell a
certain number of units in each new project at below-market-rate
prices, said the study's authors, economics Professors Benjamin Powell
and Edward Stringham.

A six page summary of our study can be found here:
http://www.rppi.org/318polsum.pdf and the 45 page study can be found
here http://www.rppi.org/ps318.pdf

tradergroupe · May 13, 2004, 1:25am

Dear Everyone;

The housing studies point out what has always been known about free-market econmics for housing:

Prices rise when the demand exceeds the supply at the asking price.

Prices fall when the supply exceeds the demand at the asking price.

When you tamper with those most basic principles you tamper with the effect on the market. You force other people to pick up the discount forced by fiat to help the low income family obtain housing at a " Fair Price".

What needs to be done is to allow free market housing and removing all the government and NIMBY enacted barriers to more housing. You also need to allow free market hiring of cost effective labor. And you also need to remove some of the more egregious building codes which have no validity. And vastly improve and speed up the permit process.

As an example, San Francisco needs another 20,000 housing units minimum to match the current population demands. With 20,000 new units and the dropping of rent control watch the rental prices plummet downward.

Ron Getty
SF Libertarian

"Dr. Michael R. Edelstein" <dredelstein@...> wrote:
This is a useful study, reported in the SF Chronicle, for our
candidates to cite.
The study was done by two libertarian profs at SJSU, Ed Stringham and
Ben Powell.
......................................................................
............
Sacramento Bee, "Housing subsidies might be forcing prices higher"
http://www.sacbee.com/content/opinion/story/9076335p-10002232c.html
Viewed under the best possible light, using inclusionary zoning to
provide
low-income housing is like fighting a forest fire with a garden hose.
Under
the harsh light this study shines on the policy, that hose might be
spraying
fuel, rather than water, on the fire.