There is no need to look for heterodox explanations. There are clear economic and political factors explaining why there is a housing shortage and why such shor

There is no need to look for heterodox explanations. There are clear economic and political factors explaining why there is a housing shortage and why such shortage causes raise of prices. Vetocracy and NIMBYism is something that is deeply embedded to modern western society. For larger housing developments, getting permits can take several times longer than actually building it, can be attacked at courts by almost anybody and significant improvement would be blocked by zoning anyways. That essentially caps housing supply in popular places, which means the price is determined just by demand (i.e. wages and mortgage rate), which grows fast in booming areas.