Not if there's no building going on.

I love this article of course.

OK, the NY Times has not become totally evil. They're just having trouble accepting the new political reality of Trump.

Amazing to see that a mainstream newspaper allowed such a sensible opinion article about housing.

PS: link to underlying university research

http://realestate.wharton.upenn.edu/research/papers/full/802.pdf

Patrick says

OK, the NY Times has not become totally evil. They're just having trouble accepting the new political reality of Trump.

I think this article represents the beginning of a shift in mainstream thinking about housing.
There is an economic breaking point for silicon valley.
And there is a demographic transition from boomers to millennials: i.e. from people who benefit from the constant rise of prices to people who pay for them.

Those who expect increases of 6%/ year forever will be disappointed.

But while building in the San Francisco metro area is more expensive than in other places, it’s not that expensive. By the paper’s calculations, a home in the San Francisco area should cost around $281,000.

The actual price for a standard home in the area is more like $800,000 (using 2013 data). The paper argues that most of that difference is caused by regulatory hurdles like design and environmental reviews that can add years to a project’s timeline and suppress the overall housing supply. The result is overpayment on a grand scale for the few homes that do get built.

Ironman says

For $650K over here, you get a 2700 sq. ft. 4/3 house overlooking the bay.

First row seats for the rise of the oceans.

West coast sure is expensive.

Really good weather here. Occasional earthquakes and ghetto riots though do counter balance it.

Ironman says

Must be that Liberal education for the reason that you don't know the difference.

Hummm... A Bay is a body of water connected to the ocean...
And... you think the ocean can rise but not the bay?

Patrick says

OK, the NY Times has not become totally evil. They're just having trouble accepting the new political reality of Trump.

I've coined a new term for that disorder. Trump Election Denial Disorder or TEDD. It's the left's equivalent of Climate Change Denial Disorder. Both are treated with a strong dose of reality administered as a bitch slap.

Plus have you seen how it's called?

Heraclitusstudent says

Cheaper home prices could add as much as $1.5 trillion a year to US economy.

Good for gen x and millennials bad for boomers

"Not sure what you're getting for $800K. For $650K over here, you get a 2700 sq. ft. 4/3 house overlooking the bay."

But you're still in the shithole state of the US. They should pay you $650K to live there.

oh yeah, thought experiment.

"now, where should we construct our factory?"
"how about fantasy land?"

the issue is not frictionless development costs alone, but the crowding/saturation of a small amount of areas deemed highly desirable to live in. you can't just build and build and build without major disruption to the city planning and overall function.

if you take the higher wage jobs and distribute them geographically evenly, you would help the solve the problem in a much more reasonable manner.

my advice to anyone still holding out in california for lower house prices: MOVE OUT or GET CREATIVE. @joshuatrio

Ironman says

Come on, don't you know, every one in California loves paying 50% of their take-home income on housing payments.

After all, it's for the children.

P - direct savings with ROI
I - tax deductible
T - tax deductible
I - constant

people LOVE owning homes in california, and those that can't afford to are in full blown lamentation.

landtof says

those that can't afford to are in full blown lamentation.

California is still good for those who can afford itlandtof says

advice to anyone still holding out in california for lower house prices: MOVE OUT or GET CREATIVE.

Atlanta suburbs have good bang for buck but inside perimeter starting to get expensive

i believe many of the coastal cities are pumped up by foreign investments: Los Angeles, San Diego, Portland, Seattle, etc.

http://www.economist.com/blogs/graphicdetail/2016/08/daily-chart-20

when the Japan bubble went bust in the the 90s, so did the housing bubble in the US. the question is when will China go bust? or will it? China is not the same as Japan. Zionist bankers can't penetrate it so there won't be a huge bubble like Japan.