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Austin’s surge of new housing construction drove down rents

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Re: Austin’s surge of new housing construction drove down rents

#6
At a glance, I'm a bit skeptical. It looks like they're cherry picking the high point for rent (the COVID spike).

> "Rents fell. In December 2021, Austin’s median rent was $1,546, near its highest level ever and 15% higher than the U.S. median ($1,346)."

Of course having more housing should, all things equal, lower rent. But all things certainly weren't equal, especially during this time period.

Re: Austin’s surge of new housing construction drove down rents

#7
>>> The city changed zoning regulations to allow construction of large apartment buildings, particularly near jobs and transit. In 2018, voters approved a $250 million bond measure to build and repair affordable housing. Permitting processes were reformed to speed development and reduce costs.

All three of the five things most economists say about house building - and each one will hit house owning voters hard making it hard to replicate.

But none the less a triumph of common sense :-)

Re: Austin’s surge of new housing construction drove down rents

#8
Same has been happening in Melbourne, Australia. The state government has basically steamrolled the boomers and allowed highrise construction next to existing train stations. Despite having huge population growth, rents are some of the most affordable in the country.

Re: Austin’s surge of new housing construction drove down rents

#9
post #3

Good news - experimental verification of the law of supply and demand! I'm sure the analysis is welcome though and I hope policy makers try to learn from this. We could densify most american cities quite a lot more.

Developers not recouping their investment will discourage less housing in Austin in the future and it will become expensive again. A lot of our current housing shortages are from the build up in 2008 and an implosion of the entire industry (so that crafts people did not really exist for the next need for housing).

Re: Austin’s surge of new housing construction drove down rents

#10
post #3

Good news - experimental verification of the law of supply and demand! I'm sure the analysis is welcome though and I hope policy makers try to learn from this. We could densify most american cities quite a lot more.

What if the people in power don't want prices to go down?
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