THIS is how you get truly affordable market-rate housing in an expensive city

[mhays]

Unless your 200-unit development is so cool that it brings 200+ new households to the region, yes it will decrease demand in the rest of the region on average.

I'm referring to the supply/demand balance.

[iheartthed]

Originally Posted by mhays

Unless your 200-unit development is so cool that it brings 200+ new households to the region, yes it will decrease demand in the rest of the region on average.

I'm referring to the supply/demand balance.

If you're building it in a city where people want to be then building housing will just encourage more people to come. If you build a 200-unit building in the middle of the desert, no it won't make people move there. But it also won't decrease demand, which was already zero.

[mhays]

You might encourage some people to move to the area, partially because you're helping keep prices in check. But largely you're addressing existing demand.

This is why apartment vacancy rates fluctuate significantly. And why condos and houses don't all sell at once. And why developers worry about how many units are getting built.