Home prices outstrip economy

By Mark Simon - S.F. Chronicle

The economy is flat on its back, and Bay Area real estate prices are reaching for the stars.

This should be an alarm signal to our local governments to approve as quickly as possible as much new housing as possible. If current behavior is a fair indicator, the signal is likely to go unheeded.

A bad economy is supposed to mean that people have less money. Less money is supposed to mean that fewer people can afford to buy homes. Fewer people buying homes is supposed to mean a drop, or at least a leveling off, of the price of a house.

And yet. .....

>>> YES!  The decade after decade failure to build enough housing to keep up with job and population growth has created a huge housing deficit....scarcity drives up prices.  The only answer - and it may be too late - is to build a lot more housing - of all types - in virtually any and every location in the Bay Area.

7:20:28 AM