Real Estate Fraud
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How Weak Housing Supply Is Worsening Housing Affordability

Published on 2017-01-03 in the Huffington Post

The year 2016 came to a close with no respite from fast-rising house prices. The prospective homebuyers are perturbed by the prices they deem unaffordable. The policymakers are concerned about the potentially devastating impacts of a housing market crash.

While most agree that a lack of new housing construction is contributing to the house price inflation, the consensus on what’s behind the lack of housing supply is missing. The pro-conservation groups accuse builders and developers of land hoarding and creating an artificial scarcity of new housing. The development industry puts the finger on the Places to Grow Act that it believes has restricted the supply of developable land.