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Northstar1989 t1_iy4eqn6 wrote

>And suddenly houses become affordable

Except they definitely won't.

Because the issues isn't construction costs. It's artificial scarcity created by Zoning Laws that say you have to put that new home on a much bigger plot of land (of which there is only so much in a give area) or you can't build it at all. Meanwhile, taller buildings with more units are also outlawed by zoning in most areas.

Because land isn't an elastic good- there's no way to make more of it just because its price goes up: this means people can charge basically as much as buyers can afford for it. There isn't real competition.

The only way to solve this problem is to relax zoning laws to the point where it's possible to build more housing in areas where it is currently in high Demand than there is demand for it. Which means smaller lots for single-family homes and allowing duplexes and mid-rise apartments in a lot more areas, basically.

Until then, all this research into new construction techniques may be good for the environment (since most of the new technologies are "green") but it won't do diddly-squat for housing prices. The issue is artificial scarcity, not production prices.

The actual cost of BUILDING a home (and not the cost of acquiring land and then permits- another source of artificial costs) and THEN building on it is usually a very small fraction of the price new homes of that size and quality actually sell for in an area.

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WalkerBRiley t1_iy59mkh wrote

You've never been to Maine, I take it.

Far enough away from the cities and zoning laws practically do not exist...and EVERYTHING HERE is 'far enough away'.

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Northstar1989 t1_iy6zvwn wrote

>You've never been to Maine, I take it.

I have.

Maine lacks a strong jobs market for it to make much of an impact on nation housing markets. And zoning laws DO exist there...

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