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by janalsncm 14 days ago
They are expensive largely because of housing so your statement is a bit of a tautology.

Historically NYC housing used to be a lot more affordable before they stopped building, reducing supply relative to demand and thereby raising prices.
2 comments
Jblx2 14 days ago
Has anyone tried to study how much NYC housing demand is due to having a large foreign-born population (something like 37%)?

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/new-york-city-immigrants_n_44...

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queenkjuul 14 days ago
Do foreigners require more houses than Americans?
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postflopclarity 13 days ago
.. yes? this is studied.

studies typically conclude that immigrant populations do contribute to housing demand (duh), but the labor supply they bring to services market (e.g. childcare, retail) lowers the cost of those services by a more-than-commensurate amount. so the total cost of living goes down for "natives."

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cyberax 14 days ago
> They are expensive largely because of housing so your statement is a bit of a tautology.

Yes. And that's impossible to fix.

> Historically NYC housing used to be a lot more affordable before they stopped building, reducing supply relative to demand and thereby raising prices.

Demand will _always_ outstrip supply. And there's no such thing as "affordable housing", it's a contradiction like "hot liquid helium". If housing sells, then it's affordable for _somebody_.

What you're talking about is subsidized housing in some form. Like rent control or housing projects.

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IAmBroom 10 days ago
> Demand will _always_ outstrip supply.

Economics 101 would beg to disagree.

> And there's no such thing as "affordable housing", it's a contradiction like "hot liquid helium". If housing sells, then it's affordable for _somebody_.

Incorrect. Housing can be sold to a buyer that won't use it for housing. Like the dog protecting the manger full of food it can't eat, affordable housing can be removed from the market by investors, tax vehicles, and so forth.

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