Home owners have the perverse incentive to stop all new construction to the detriment of their community. Their net worth continually increases so long as the

Home owners have the perverse incentive to stop all new construction to the detriment of their community. Their net worth continually increases so long as the price of real estate increases. There is no downside! Furthermore, property taxes normally force some people out of their homes; this isn't as bad as it sounds - in SF at least, they would get a hefty windfall. On average, the property would be used more efficiently by the new owner. NIMBYism is the biggest problem in SF. Every year, 20K people or so move into the city while we only build enough housing for roughly one tenth of them. Housing has increased by ~10-15% a year for the past decade or so.