[ProfessorLayton]

>mostly political

Mostly, not entirely. Furthermore, this housing crunch has been decades in the making, not something that's suddenly happened, as evidenced by prices spiraling out of control. It's no surprise that trying to build a new home during a worldwide labor and supply chain crunch is especially difficult.

Complaining to a politician may not provide immediate relief now, but in the long term if supply was able to meet demand, prices should stabilize.

The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago, the second best time is today.

[mywittyname]

Most of the country never (in recent times) had a housing shortage before now. So it might be a political issue for the people who live in a handful of coastal cities, but this isn't a political issue in most states.

I have years worth of zillow pricing emails in my inbox, if I go back to '18, YoY price increases were like <1% in most zip codes and 2-3% in the nicer ones. Recent emails have prices going up 20%+ all over town.

[ProfessorLayton]

I'm in the coast, so I won't pretend to fully understand the markets elsewhere, however, it should be noted that ~50% of the U.S. population lives near the coast, or a constraining border limiting expansion.

For a very very large portion of the population it's land use and zoning rules that are constraining supply and causing everyone else to pay more than they otherwise would.