SF Examiner Publishes My Housing Free Market LTE

Dear Everyone;

The SF Examiner had an article last week on the supervisors introducing legislation to significantly increase the percentage of affordable set asides on new housing projects. Shortly thereafter the SF Examiner had an editorial about the social and economic issues which impact housing prices and free markets.

I wrote an LTE about the housing issue and the SF Examiner agreed and published.

Ron Getty
SF Libertarian

http://www.examiner.com/a-186764~Letters__July_22_23rd__2006.html
Letters: July 22-23rd, 2006
The Examiner
Jul 22, 2006
SAN FRANCISCO -

Housing economics

City supervisors are now contemplating new legislation mandating developers to set aside more affordable housing than before (“Supervisors look at mandates for more affordable housing,” July 13). Supervisors need to understand free market forces.

Home and apartment rental prices reflect market demand. Prices rise when demand exceeds the supply. Prices fall when the supply exceeds the demand. Supervisors should enact legislation streamlining development and keep it free from red-tape bureaucracy, cumbersome permit approval processes and “not-in-my-backyard” NIMBYs. The supervisors must understand below-market homes are paid for by market-rate home purchasers, as there are no free rides.

San Francisco desperately needs some 50,000 new rental units and 10,000 homes. Based on scarcity of land, this means high-rise apartments and condos/town-home developments. If San Francisco wants a cultural diversity of families, the supervisors should get their heads screwed on straight about free market economic forces.

Ron Getty
The City