- #1
Economist
New research proves what many economists have thought all along, that government regulation greatly increases housing prices. Ever wonder why poor people are increasingly pushed out of some major cities such as San Fran, Seattle, etc? Well here's the answer.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2004181704_eicher14.html
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2004181704_eicher14.html
Backed by studies showing that middle-class Seattle residents can no longer afford the city's middle-class homes, consensus is growing that prices are too darned high. But why are they so high?
An intriguing new analysis by a University of Washington economics professor argues that home prices have, perhaps inadvertently, been driven up $200,000 by good intentions.
Eicher's $200,000 conclusion doesn't surprise Kriss Sjoblom, staff economist for the Washington Research Council, a nonpartisan organization that examines public-policy issues.
"It's actually pleasing," Sjoblom says, "that we finally have data that allows us to show things we thought were there all the time."
A UW professor for 13 years, Eicher is also the founding director of the UW's Economic Policy Research Center. Its goal is to provide analysis that will inform regional policy debates.
Eicher says the research center long wanted to analyze the impact of regulation on housing prices, and found a way when researchers at the University of Pennsylvania developed the Wharton Residential Land Use Regulatory Index. Based on a survey of more than 2,500 U.S. municipalities, it provided the first nationwide analysis and comparison of the effects of land-use regulation.