Affordable Rent Needs One Simple Thing

If you really care about rental housing affordability, you should really care about building as many new apartments as possible. It’s the one and only solution that unites economists, housing advocates and industry groups.

We’re seeing proven science play out again this year. Apartment construction nationally hit a 50-year high, which led to increased vacancies, which in turn triggered rapidly cooling rents. In the cities building the largest numbers of new apartments, rents are already falling, and likely will continue to fall next year as more supply hits the market. It’s happening everywhere from Oakland to Minneapolis to Dallas. The balance of power is shifting back to renters.