Full Citation
Title: Housing Affordability and Land Prices: Is There a Crisis in American Cities?
Citation Type: Miscellaneous
Publication Year: 2001
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Abstract: In response to sharply rising housing prices in several key urban areas, an increasingly large number of advocates have been pushing a program of housing affordability. While incomes and house prices are relevant to the affordability debate, some advocates argue that increasing shortages of land mean that America is facing a housing crunch. In response, the advocates argue, there should be a strenuous policy of building affordable housing. This paper attempts to shed some light on the actual costs of housing within the United States. There is no question that there are some places where housing is expensive and scarce. But is this true throughout the U.S.? Is this true throughout even the expensive metropolitan areas? To help answer these questions, this paper examines the actual distribution of housing prices in American cities over the last 20 years. We then document a series of facts about American home prices. Since the cost of housing to affordability programs is the cost of construction, we particularly focus on the number of homes that are priced below construction costs . .
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Authors: Glaeser, Edward; Gyourko, Joseph; Hilber, Christian
Publisher: Harvard University and NBER
Data Collections: IPUMS USA
Topics: Housing and Segregation, Labor Force and Occupational Structure, Migration and Immigration, Other, Poverty and Welfare
Countries: United States