What will end the “housing crisis?”

As long as developers keep paying for certainty the crisis will continue. As long as non-profits refuse to recognize that rising costs mean fewer, more expensive units for them, the crisis will continue. As long as politicians and the public continue to say we need “more affordable housing” rather than “we need more housing so that it will be affordable” the crisis will continue.

This isn’t a conspiracy theory or a flight of fancy; it’s the simple truth. This is why we have a “crisis.”

Developers, builders, and landlords aren’t in business to save the world; their job is to make and manage housing. But if they don’t start thinking about the bigger picture, they’ll be played by bureaucrats and non-profits that are not dependent on the business cycle, innovation, or creating return on investment.

The bottom line on housing is that money and time and energy must be spent on changing age old views about why prices go up, housing professionals have to hold together as a group (the way they are accused of doing, but never do), and non-profits need to find different ways to help people in need.

If one of these elements doesn’t change, nothing will. Will developers, builders and landlords pay more to local government to keep angry neighbors and non-profits happy, something that just raises prices for housing and makes life harder for poor people? I don’t know. We’ll see.

You can read my whole Forbes post on this here: https://www.forbes.com/sites/rogervaldez/2018/10/29/how-to-end-the-housing-crisis/#2b3547c11117