572: Zoning, Rent Control, and the Housing Shortage

Why is housing so expensive in some American cities—and why does it seem like we can never build enough of it? We tend to blame everything from interest rates and developers to investors and population growth. But a big part of the answer may be much simpler: in many of the places where people most want to live, we've made it extraordinarily difficult to build more housing. My guest on this week's episode of Wealth Formula Podcast is Dr. Jan K. Brueckner, professor of economics at the University of California, Irvine, and an expert in urban economics and real estate markets. We talk about the basic economic forces that shape our cities, why housing affordability has become such a serious problem, and how zoning and other land-use restrictions can drive prices higher by limiting supply. We also get into upzoning, the push toward greater housing density, and why economists are generally so skeptical of rent control—even though it can certainly benefit the tenants who already have it. For those of us who invest in real estate, this is an especially interesting conversation because these policies don't just affect housing affordability. They can fundamentally change supply, rents, property values, and ultimately the economics of investing in different markets.