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In many U.S. cities housing growth is lagging behind job and population growth, forcing rents up and worsening the housing shortage.
Experts met at the 2017 ULI Spring Meeting to discuss possible solutions, ranging from rethinking zoning and other local constraints to pushing urban development, Multi-Housing News reports. The U.S. has gone from a 2 million single-family unit surplus to a 2.6 million deficit. As for multifamily, from 1980 to 2007 there were 1.5 million units built each year, but only 750,000 a year from 2007 to 2009. Experts agreed the solution to the housing shortage depends on urban core communities, but said few developers want to take the risk to fund pre-development. These local communities can effect change by simplifying zoning constraints to encourage new development.
