A Playbook for Supply-Side Housing Affordability Solutions

The word YIMBY isn't used in the McKinsey Global Institute's new supply-side toolkit for housing affordability, but YIMBYs will like this it anyway.

1 minute read

October 15, 2017, 7:00 AM PDT

By James Brasuell @CasualBrasuell


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Jonathan Woetzel, Sangeeth Ram, Shannon Peloquin, and Jan Mischke have created a supply-side toolkit for cities looking to combat skyrocketing housing prices. The work accepts the argument that at the heart of the current housing crisis is an "extreme imbalance in supply and demand." In effect, "[p]opulation growth, the continuing trend toward urbanization, and rising global incomes are all fueling steady demand increases," according to the article that announces the new toolkit.

The supply-side toolkit that follows addresses "three challenges that all cities have in common: making land available, removing barriers, and making the construction sector more productive." a list of specific recommendations follows each of those three focus areas. The full report, "Housing Affordability: A Supply-Side Toolkit for Cities" [pdf], is available online.

Thursday, October 12, 2017 in McKinsey & Company

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