[no_wizard]

Land value tax would fix this in a hurry. Land owners would be incentivized to sell or make more productive use of their land, which adds enough positive pressure for them to go to market and make a deal. The biggest flaw in US housing is the ability to hold out at effectively no cost even as land value skyrockets. The taxation does not keep pace with the actual value. This allows stubborn sellers who want above market sales to hold out, potentially for years, until someone buys at an inflated price, with no real downside.

Combine with upzoning and it would really stimulate the housing market in short order without subsidy.

Land, being largely finite - especially when you start considering how communities make land more valuable etc - shouldn't be treated as a manufactured good. A land value tax is the only way to bring market incentives to real estate, because otherwise there is no pressure on owners to sell or otherwise make more productive use of land. Our current policies from local to state to federal, all incentivize holding land regardless of its utility.