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binarycrusader · 2014-08-11 13:47:19

Some regional governments can't keep up with demand. For example, a month or so ago, the Mountain View department responsible for reviewing and approving new developments asked the council for a temporary moratorium. They had over 90 projects in review or development and simply couldn't keep up with them all.

New (expensive) housing is popping up all over Mountain View right now...

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eyelidlessness | karma 12032 | avg karma 2.12 · | 2021-02-15 02:31:21+00:00

We can’t keep up with demand. There’s constant construction everywhere. It’s been a running joke for years that if you try to walk/ride/bus/drive anywhere you’ll encounter a new development each time.

Sure, some of the problem is that the new developments are almost all too expensive for current residents but I’m not sure how you deal with that. The common wisdom is more vacancies lead to a renter’s market but it hasn’t panned out. To the extent there are vacancies they’re all investment properties.

It’s overly simplistic to say build more housing.

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true_tuna | karma 389 | avg karma 1.46 · | 2017-12-25 09:08:58+00:00

“We’ve tried everything except building more housing and we’re all out of ideas!” I’m baffled how local governments can’t seem to connect the supply side.

30k new jobs + 8k new housing units = higher housing prices

Or for a more hilarious ratio, look at Mountain View over the last 15 years. I think for a decade there were effectively zero new units created.

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pxeboot | karma 1553 | avg karma 3.82 · | 2021-07-25 17:21:51

It can take years to get new housing developments approved, by the time they can start building, the demand may have leveled off or disappeared.

davidw | karma 63893 | avg karma 3.82 · | 2016-10-04 22:58:14+00:00

Part of the reason housing is so expensive is because of all the zoning meaning you can't build up, or otherwise create denser housing. Supply is not meeting demand.

lopmotr | karma 422 | avg karma 0.33 · | 2018-04-26 07:50:46

That seems to be a common problem. In New Zealand, especially Auckland, there's a housing shortage so the local governments have relaxed zoning restrictions. But there's also a shortage of builders so they can't build fast enough and housing will stay expensive for years until that catches up.

andrewmutz | karma 2899 | avg karma 5.55 · | 2024-06-18 23:22:02

There is a housing shortage caused by excessive regulation. High prices will continue until until it’s addressed.

Finnucane | karma 5191 | avg karma 1.75 · | 2020-09-28 02:08:40+00:00

In the short term at least, the suburbs are not able to absorb a big surge. Some places are seeing two or three times normal demand. There’s no way they can adapt fast enough and prices in those places are rising.

journalctl | karma 1027 | avg karma 3.09 · | 2019-09-07 14:40:31+00:00

This is happening in just about every decently-sized city. Demand has gone up, but very little new housing stock is being built.

ndnxhs | karma 1179 | avg karma 2.77 · | 2019-03-23 23:13:30

Sounds like there is just a shortage of high density housing.

Tempest1981 | karma 3174 | avg karma 1.5 · | 2016-03-01 04:28:56+00:00

What should be done, and by whom? New housing is going up all the time, but with the economy booming, demand is insatiable.

amanaplanacanal | karma 4641 | avg karma 1.5 · | 2019-12-02 10:18:29

If you keep building, eventually you will meet the pent up demand. Your scenario might match the first batch of new housing, but it can't continue indefinitely. Eventually you have more houses than people.

There is a ton of pent-up demand in the bay area, because this has been going on for a long time. People who own houses there are going to fight you the whole way.

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t-3 | karma 2177 | avg karma 1.5 · | 2023-03-28 11:52:35

IIRC, new housing is not being approved for construction mainly because the local gov is full of people who own real estate. In a natural situation, supply would be increased to meet demand.

shuckles | karma 2918 | avg karma 2.09 · | 2020-05-14 17:44:47+00:00

This suggests that it's not only just that rents are high, but also that the current housing stock is not configured for the type of demand (small homes for few people, instead of large homes for lots of people).

colinmhayes | karma 5802 | avg karma 1.83 · | 2022-05-11 14:11:40

Of course a housing shortage has to do with supply and demand. Yes, we're building, but not nearly fast enough.

juve1996 | karma 726 | avg karma 1.53 · | 2022-07-14 11:15:35

The amount of homes being built in areas where people want them built aren't enough to offset demand. In areas where denser housing is required (coastal cities), zoning and NIMBYism prevents it.

kalupa | karma 258 | avg karma 1.56 · | 2023-09-05 17:29:06

which new build properties? there's a massive lack of supply and a huge amount of demand

e15ctr0n | karma 9011 | avg karma 6.74 · | 2015-11-29 19:33:24

Obviously, the supply of new housing is not enough to meet the demand, or prices would have fallen to affordable levels.

briandear | karma 2865 | avg karma 0.45 · | 2018-06-01 15:57:23

The problem is there aren’t enough homes. Price is a reflection of that. Santa Clara County has about a 10 day inventory last time I checked.

JackFr | karma 14057 | avg karma 3.9 · | 2020-02-04 15:52:30+00:00

Housing doesn’t fit the traditional supply/demand model b/c incumbent owners are able to increase there wealth by using the power of the state to constrain supply through zoning and other regulatory means.

The time constraint you mention is often artificial, six months for permitting here and two months for an impact study there. Actual construction is surprisingly fast.

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