As the housing market roars back to life, the price of "dirt", or developable land, is surging in America's most desirable areas - including the outer suburbs. A shortage of lots is said to be hampering the housing recovery.
"The latest land rush is in full swing," writes Shaila Dewan, "as developers realize that they have failed to feed the zoning, permitting and mapping pipeline, which can take months or years to turn raw fields into buildable lots. They are realizing another thing, too: they have been sorely missed."
“For the first time, I’ve seen cities want to work to help figure it out, rather than doing us a favor all the time to let us develop,” said Scott Carlston of Hunter Emerson, a development partnership.
“We have gone from a situation where five years ago everyone was saying, ‘There’s too many lots,’ to today, builders are literally crying on our shoulder saying, ‘There’s not enough lots. We can’t find any,’” said Bradley F. Hunter, the chief economist at MetroStudy.
Read the full story: Prices Are Rising for New Homes, and the Land They Are Built On
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City of Rosemead
Rutgers University, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
One Hundred Miles
University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS)
Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY)
The Architects Foundation
City of Cambridge
Montrose County
The Pocatello Development Authority