What the Twin Cities Tell Us About Fixing the Housing Crisis

After looking at both Texas and California housing markets and their economics there are only two (and a half) things you need to fix the housing crisis in the US.

1. High property taxes. High property taxes have the unintended benefit of depreciating prices. The more in value a property increases the more taxes its owners must pay. Markets with higher property taxes tend to have substantially cheaper housing irrespective of demand.

2. Limit ownership of single family residences to a maximum of 5 properties per owner. When fewer entities own properties the less natural pricing for those properties becomes, for example what people can afford in monthly payments versus what people are willing to negotiate for in transfer of ownership.

2.5. A far lesser concern is quantity of physical housing availability, as in total volume and speed of new construction. Building new properties rapidly does not have significant influence on pricing, but it does influence other factors like growth and desirability.