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Same thing in Houston, which is essentially a zoning-free city. Going after regulations is a red herring: the real problem is the investor class snapping up th

Same thing in Houston, which is essentially a zoning-free city. Going after regulations is a red herring: the real problem is the investor class snapping up the housing supply. I bought a townhome last year at the height of the market in a great and competitive neighborhood, paid a very reasonable price and faced zero counter offers. Why? My HOA agreement has provisions that prevent the owner from using the property as a short-term rental. Contrast that to single family homes that were going hundreds above asking price and with cash offers. As soon as you remove the incentive to purchase a home purely as an investment, the experience improves dramatically for buyers looking for a place to live.

throw0101a 3y ago
> Same thing in Houston, which is essentially a zoning-free city. While there may not be 'traditional' zoning, there seem to be a bunch of regulations: > There are a number of reasons this line of questioning is a mistake, but the most fundamental one is that people misunderstand what “no zoning” means in the Houston context. If land use in Houston were genuinely unregulated, then this Nancy Sarnoff article[1] about possible revisions to Houston land use rules would make no sense. In fact, the city features extensive regulation of minimum lot size and maximum parking requirements just like every other major American city. * https://slate.com/business/2011/11/the-myth-of-zoning-free-houston.html https://slate.com/business/2011/11/the-myth-of-zoning-free-h... > What are the real-life impacts? When the rental property developers press in, people can petition for their areas to be classified as historic. In effect, people are using [historic] district-making in place of zoning to push back against change. * https://www.deeds.com/articles/houston-the-zoning-free-city-right/ https://www.deeds.com/articles/houston-the-zoning-free-city-... > This buffering ordinance is the latest edition in the city’s history of enacting land-use regulations without using the word “zoning.” Urban planners and scholars have long debated whether Houston has zoning codes that are clad in terms like “buffering.” The reality is that Houston has created a host of regulations that govern what can be built where. * https://therealdeal.com/texas/2023/03/16/dont-say-the-z-word/ https://therealdeal.com/texas/2023/03/16/dont-say-the-z-word...
ryukafalz 3y ago
> Houston, which is essentially a zoning-free city. This is a misconception: https://kinder.rice.edu/urbanedge/forget-what-youve-heard-houston-really-does-have-zoning-sort https://kinder.rice.edu/urbanedge/forget-what-youve-heard-ho...
- jeffbee 3y ago
  The weird thing is Houston has this reputation without even building that much housing. They build about the same amount per capita as Dallas or San Antonio, but Austin builds way more and that has been true for 30 years.
rank0 3y ago
> the real problem is the investor class snapping up the housing supply. I don’t understand why this narrative keeps popping up. Institutions own a very small percentage of homes in the US. They much prefer to own apartments, which is the most effective way of increasing the available shelter. I understand that it’s convenient to blame the wealthy… but don’t you think homes are expensive because of 0% interest rates over the last decade?!
- LapsangGuzzler 3y ago
  A recent real estate thread detailing the decline of Airbnb revenues (avg yoy revenue is down by almost 50% in cities like Austin and Phoenix) puts things into perspective. For example, there are 10x as many active AirBnb rentals in Sevierville, TN (a popular mountain tourism spot) as there are homes on the market. The overall percentage of home ownership by investors might be small, but they represent a large percentage of real estate transactions taking place today. Buying a house today largely means being able to outbid people with millions of dollars in cash and real estate at their disposal, you will see this firsthand if you ever try to buy a home in a competitive area.
  - brodouevencode 3y ago
    > Buying a house today largely means being able to outbid people with millions of dollars in cash and real estate at their disposal, you will see this firsthand if you ever try to buy a home in a competitive area. In my experience this is certainly true with any large land plot, which can easily be subdivided into smaller plots with houses.
  - rank0 3y ago
    I’m not against municipalities placing restrictions on airbnbs. The reality is that they never end up doing that. That tiny mountain spot you mentioned probably LOVES all the tourism revenue. Also I don’t really understand your point…a small TN mountain town who thrives off tourism is SO far away from the shelter needs of 99.99% of Americans. Investors impact the market to some extent…but the insane monetary policy of 0% rates and 5 rounds of QE is EASILY the biggest factor. It’s not even close. EDIT: lol at your last comment. I bought a brand new house in midtown Atlanta 2021.

throw0101a 3y ago

> Same thing in Houston, which is essentially a zoning-free city. While there may not be 'traditional' zoning, there seem to be a bunch of regulations: > There are a number of reasons this line of questioning is a mistake, but the most fundamental one is that people misunderstand what “no zoning” means in the Houston context. If land use in Houston were genuinely unregulated, then this Nancy Sarnoff article[1] about possible revisions to Houston land use rules would make no sense. In fact, the city features extensive regulation of minimum lot size and maximum parking requirements just like every other major American city. * https://slate.com/business/2011/11/the-myth-of-zoning-free-houston.html https://slate.com/business/2011/11/the-myth-of-zoning-free-h... > What are the real-life impacts? When the rental property developers press in, people can petition for their areas to be classified as historic. In effect, people are using [historic] district-making in place of zoning to push back against change. * https://www.deeds.com/articles/houston-the-zoning-free-city-right/ https://www.deeds.com/articles/houston-the-zoning-free-city-... > This buffering ordinance is the latest edition in the city’s history of enacting land-use regulations without using the word “zoning.” Urban planners and scholars have long debated whether Houston has zoning codes that are clad in terms like “buffering.” The reality is that Houston has created a host of regulations that govern what can be built where. * https://therealdeal.com/texas/2023/03/16/dont-say-the-z-word/ https://therealdeal.com/texas/2023/03/16/dont-say-the-z-word...

ryukafalz 3y ago

> Houston, which is essentially a zoning-free city. This is a misconception: https://kinder.rice.edu/urbanedge/forget-what-youve-heard-houston-really-does-have-zoning-sort https://kinder.rice.edu/urbanedge/forget-what-youve-heard-ho...

jeffbee 3y ago
The weird thing is Houston has this reputation without even building that much housing. They build about the same amount per capita as Dallas or San Antonio, but Austin builds way more and that has been true for 30 years.

rank0 3y ago

> the real problem is the investor class snapping up the housing supply. I don’t understand why this narrative keeps popping up. Institutions own a very small percentage of homes in the US. They much prefer to own apartments, which is the most effective way of increasing the available shelter. I understand that it’s convenient to blame the wealthy… but don’t you think homes are expensive because of 0% interest rates over the last decade?!

LapsangGuzzler 3y ago
A recent real estate thread detailing the decline of Airbnb revenues (avg yoy revenue is down by almost 50% in cities like Austin and Phoenix) puts things into perspective. For example, there are 10x as many active AirBnb rentals in Sevierville, TN (a popular mountain tourism spot) as there are homes on the market. The overall percentage of home ownership by investors might be small, but they represent a large percentage of real estate transactions taking place today. Buying a house today largely means being able to outbid people with millions of dollars in cash and real estate at their disposal, you will see this firsthand if you ever try to buy a home in a competitive area.
- brodouevencode 3y ago
  > Buying a house today largely means being able to outbid people with millions of dollars in cash and real estate at their disposal, you will see this firsthand if you ever try to buy a home in a competitive area. In my experience this is certainly true with any large land plot, which can easily be subdivided into smaller plots with houses.
- rank0 3y ago
  I’m not against municipalities placing restrictions on airbnbs. The reality is that they never end up doing that. That tiny mountain spot you mentioned probably LOVES all the tourism revenue. Also I don’t really understand your point…a small TN mountain town who thrives off tourism is SO far away from the shelter needs of 99.99% of Americans. Investors impact the market to some extent…but the insane monetary policy of 0% rates and 5 rounds of QE is EASILY the biggest factor. It’s not even close. EDIT: lol at your last comment. I bought a brand new house in midtown Atlanta 2021.