Home building is a highly competitive industry with almost no natural barriers to entry For a wood frame affair in Flatlandia this may be true, but the enginee

Home building is a highly competitive industry with almost no natural barriers to entry For a wood frame affair in Flatlandia this may be true, but the engineering and project management skills required to deliver a high-rise building in Manhattan on time and without cost overruns are infinitely higher. We argue that land use restrictions are the natural explanation for this gap. No shit, Sherlock. Manhattan is full, the Subway runs at capacity, as do the roadways and sewage lines. You just can't put extra people in unless you expand infrastructure. You'd rather ask why Philly is so cheap when both Boston and NYC are near-unaffordable.