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The Impact of Zoning on Housing Affordability

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Author Info
Edward L. Glaeser
Joseph Gyourko

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Abstract

This paper examines whether there is a housing affordability problem in America by comparing house prices to the costs of new construction. It then proceeds to investigate why prices far exceed construction costs in certain areas. In most of the country, home prices appear to be fairly close to the physical costs of construction. Only in particular areas, especially New York City and California, do housing prices diverge substantially from the costs of new construction. The bulk of the evidence examined indicates that zoning and other land use controls are responsible for prices in high cost areas of the country. This indicates that restrictions on supply and new development, not just high demand for certain regions, are responsible for the housing affordability problems that do exist. The results also suggest that if housing affordability advocates are interested in reducing housing costs, they would do well to start with zoning reform, and not focus as much on public or subsidized construction programs.

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Paper provided by Wharton School Samuel Zell and Robert Lurie Real Estate Center, University of Pennsylvania in its series Zell/Lurie Center Working Papers with number 395.

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Handle: RePEc:wop:pennzl:395

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Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
  1. Goodman, John Jr. & Ittner, John B., 1992. "The accuracy of home owners' estimates of house value," Journal of Housing Economics, Elsevier, vol. 2(4), pages 339-357, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  2. Gyourko, Joseph & Tracy, Joseph, 1991. "The Structure of Local Public Finance and the Quality of Life," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 99(4), pages 774-806, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  3. Edward L. Glaeser & Joseph Gyourko, 2001. "Urban Decline and Durable Housing," NBER Working Papers 8598, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  4. Roback, Jennifer, 1982. "Wages, Rents, and the Quality of Life," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 90(6), pages 1257-78, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Edward L. Glaeser & Jesse M. Shapiro, 2002. "The Benefits of the Home Mortgage Interest Deduction," NBER Working Papers 9284, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  2. Marco Del Negro & Christopher Otrok, 2005. "Monetary policy and the house price boom across U.S. states," Working Paper 2005-24, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. [Downloadable!]
  3. Joshua Gallin, 2003. "The long-run relationship between house prices and income: evidence from local housing markets," Finance and Economics Discussion Series 2003-17, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.). [Downloadable!]
  4. Mohammad Arzaghi, 2005. "Quality Sorting and Networking: Evidence from the Advertising Agency Industry," Working Papers 05-16, Center for Economic Studies, U.S. Census Bureau. [Downloadable!]
  5. Edward L. Glaeser & Joseph Gyourko & Raven Saks, 2005. "Why Have Housing Prices Gone Up?," NBER Working Papers 11129, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  6. Arthur Grimes & Suzi Kerr & Andrew Aitken, 2003. "Housing and Economic Adjustment," Working Papers 03_09, Motu Economic and Public Policy Research. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  7. Somik V. Lall & Hyoung Gun Wang & Daniel Da Mata, 2007. "Do Urban Land Regulations Influence Slum Formation? Evidence From Brazilian Cities," Anais do XXXV Encontro Nacional de Economia [Proceedings of the 35th Brazilian Economics Meeting] 119, ANPEC - Associação Nacional dos Centros de Pósgraduação em Economia [Brazilian Association of Graduate Programs in Economics]. [Downloadable!]
  8. Balázs Égert, 2007. "Real Convergence, Price Level Convergence and Inflation Differentials in Europe," Working Papers 138, Oesterreichische Nationalbank (Austrian Central Bank). [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  9. François Ortalo-Magné & Andrea Prat, 2005. "The Political Economy of Housing Supply," Levine's Bibliography 122247000000000954, UCLA Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
  10. Joseph Gyourko & Christopher Mayer & Todd Sinai, 2006. "Superstar Cities," NBER Working Papers 12355, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  11. Robert J. Shiller, 2007. "Understanding Recent Trends in House Prices and Home Ownership," NBER Working Papers 13553, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  12. Wouter Vermeulen & Jan Rouwendal, 2007. "Housing supply in the Netherlands," CPB Discussion Papers 87, CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis. [Downloadable!]
  13. Robert J. Shiller, 2007. "Understanding Recent Trends in House Prices and Home Ownership," Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers 1630, Cowles Foundation, Yale University, revised Oct 2007. [Downloadable!]
  14. Wouter Vermeulen & Jan Rouwendal, 2007. "Housing Supply and Land Use Regulation in the Netherlands," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 07-058/3, Tinbergen Institute. [Downloadable!]
  15. Edward L. Glaeser & Joseph Gyourko & Raven Saks, 2003. "Why is Manhattan So Expensive? Regulation and the Rise in House Prices," NBER Working Papers 10124, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  16. Ron Feldman, 2002. "The affordable housing shortage: considering the problem, causes and solutions," Banking and Policy Studies 2-02, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. [Downloadable!]
  17. Edward L. Glaeser & Andrei Shleifer, 2002. "The Curley Effect," NBER Working Papers 8942, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
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