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High density being expensive and getting those rents shows there is demand: we should be building more of it to fill demand, and in turn bring prices down.

In less dense areas the car shines above anything else. However in those dense areas where people have shown they want to live cars are too big and we need something else.




> we should be building more of it to fill demand, and in turn bring prices down.

That's not really how construction works in the US. All construction generates higher prices than existed before (this is explicit intentional policy, at both the local, state, and federal level).

There is no such thing as new housing in the US that lowers property values, therefore there is no such thing as a new building that lowers "prices". No one does this (except perhaps, non-profits and such). And even if you wanted to anyway, no bank would ever finance it.


Of course increasing supply lowers the equilibrium price, relative to the case where supply doesn't increase.

https://research.upjohn.org/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1325...

> This suggests that new construction reduces demand and loosens the housing market in lowand middle-income areas, even in the short run.


That is correct only to the first order. New construction is always higher priced and luxury. However the new construction in turns pulls someone out of some older place elsewhere which then goes down a little in value and becomes more affordable.

The best time to build affordable housing is 20 years ago, the second best time is now.




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