Real life shortage
If I learned anything from my high school economics class it’s that when you have a demand higher than your supply, that is a shortage.
Shortage is exactly where the housing market is right now and exactly where it needs to stay.
Quick run down
Because of the housing shortage, home prices are rising in ways that people can’t afford.
In California specifically, the housing shortage has become a housing crisis. And on top of that crisis, the state seems to be dragging its feet for a solution to it. One former San Jose Mayor, Chuck Reed, has a few ideas on how to solve both the crisis in California and the shortage sweeping the nation.
Response not reaction
The first response to the housing shortage Mr. Reed suggests should be taking steps to deconstruct the massive amounts of hoops that local governments put out for developers and builders to get plans approved.
Those hoops include, but are not limited to, occupancy limits, profit limits, and eviction rules.
We can deconstruct these hoops through legal action at the local level all the way up the chain to the Supreme Court.
Another response to the housing shortage Mr. Reed proposed is to change the states’ fiscal restrictions to favor housing.
Granted, he is referring to California’s fiscal restrictions but California isn’t the only state to impose restrictions like that.
In terms of the other states, modification of property tax allocations would allow for housing permits to generate enough money for cities to pay an increase service demand.
Reed also would like to see other reviews, like environmental review, streamlined so that they can’t be used to block developments for arbitrary reasons such as neighbors not agreeing with the color scheme.
In the end, Reed’s biggest response is for people to start electing legislators who understand the needs and growing pains of the housing market so that you already have the people in place to make changes.
#HousingShortage
