When the Housing Shortage is a Windfall
When the Housing Shortage is a Windfall
Less affordable housing benefits those who already own a home.
We know that zoning restrictions have a price: When housing is harder to build, it means that the housing shortage continues, that housing and rental prices rise, that only the wealthiest can afford to buy a home in a desired area. But the group that benefits from the housing shortage tends to be the same one that is staunchest in its NIMBYism: homeowners.
Generating equity through rising home values is nothing new. Real estate is one of the top assets for creating generational wealth. But just how much homeowners are making off of the housing shortage may surprise you.
In September of 2022, the New York Times ran a piece detailing the increase in home values in cities across the cities over the previous decade—and how that increase translated into daily earnings for homeowners. “Imagine finding $266 stacked up on the coffee table every single day from 2011 through 2021. That’s one way to envision price appreciation in San Jose, Calif., which had the greatest gain of all metros when measured in actual dollars,” wrote author Michael Kolomatsky.
That figure is not far off from the average earnings in Durham, North Carolina. In 2022, the average sales price for a single-family home in the city was $441,348—an increase of 14 percent from the year before. That means that, from 2021 to 2022, the average homeowner in Durham earned $54,062 simply due to the rising costs of homes. That amounts to $148 stacked on the coffee table, every day, from doing nothing.
It’s no wonder that NIMBYism is so strong among homeowners: They directly benefit from the housing shortage. When cities capitulate to NIMBYs and fail to allow more housing to be built, housing costs continue to rise, and homeowners continue to profit. It’s the duty of cities to combat NIMBYism and make housing more accessible rather than listening to the loudest—and often the most self-interested—voices.
Zoe Tishaev is the Duke Initiative for Urban Studies Fellow on Transportation Alternatives and University Development.
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