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This effect is quite broken in many US markets. Developers are, for various reasons, building higher-density developments consisting almost exclusively of studi

by amluto 11mo ago

This effect is quite broken in many US markets. Developers are, for various reasons, building higher-density developments consisting almost exclusively of studios and 1-bedroom units.

AnthonyMouse 11mo ago
Developers build what's profitable, i.e. what's in demand. And they don't have to build the thing you want to make more of it available to you. You want a big house, someone who currently has a big house just wants a place to live, so if someone builds them a 1-bedroom then they take your money, pay a fraction of that for the 1-bedroom and pocket the difference. They get the new unit and a pile of money and you get the existing bigger house. That continues until demand for bigger units starts to outstrip demand for smaller units, at which point developers start building something else.
- amluto 11mo ago
  > Developers build what's profitable, i.e. what's in demand. This is only true to the extent that regulations don’t constrain the developers. As I understand it, in much of the US, regulations make it very difficult to build high density family housing.
  - sokoloff 11mo ago
    There is plenty of opportunity to build high density family housing legally, even despite current regulations. What’s not as easy is to build it as quickly and profitably as high-margin single families for end-users in the suburbs. High-density buildings for landlords are sold to relative experts in real estate who know their numbers. Low-density luxury-appearing houses can be sold to end users who don’t know their numbers as well and who are spending partly on their dreams and emotions. (I say this as someone who bought two houses as an end-user and I mean no disrespect to end-user, non-expert buyers.)
  - AnthonyMouse 11mo ago
    > As I understand it, in much of the US, regulations make it very difficult to build high density family housing. Absolutely they do, but the 1-bedroom and studio units are the things those rules prohibit. Which is why they're in demand anywhere they're actually allowed and why developers start building them anywhere you remove the constraint.

by amluto 11mo ago

This effect is quite broken in many US markets. Developers are, for various reasons, building higher-density developments consisting almost exclusively of studios and 1-bedroom units.

AnthonyMouse 11mo ago

Developers build what's profitable, i.e. what's in demand. And they don't have to build the thing you want to make more of it available to you. You want a big house, someone who currently has a big house just wants a place to live, so if someone builds them a 1-bedroom then they take your money, pay a fraction of that for the 1-bedroom and pocket the difference. They get the new unit and a pile of money and you get the existing bigger house. That continues until demand for bigger units starts to outstrip demand for smaller units, at which point developers start building something else.

amluto 11mo ago
> Developers build what's profitable, i.e. what's in demand. This is only true to the extent that regulations don’t constrain the developers. As I understand it, in much of the US, regulations make it very difficult to build high density family housing.
- sokoloff 11mo ago
  There is plenty of opportunity to build high density family housing legally, even despite current regulations. What’s not as easy is to build it as quickly and profitably as high-margin single families for end-users in the suburbs. High-density buildings for landlords are sold to relative experts in real estate who know their numbers. Low-density luxury-appearing houses can be sold to end users who don’t know their numbers as well and who are spending partly on their dreams and emotions. (I say this as someone who bought two houses as an end-user and I mean no disrespect to end-user, non-expert buyers.)
- AnthonyMouse 11mo ago
  > As I understand it, in much of the US, regulations make it very difficult to build high density family housing. Absolutely they do, but the 1-bedroom and studio units are the things those rules prohibit. Which is why they're in demand anywhere they're actually allowed and why developers start building them anywhere you remove the constraint.