03-29-2012, 03:38 AM
In the 1950’s we had a 40% building rate increase that has progressively receded to less than 10% growth even at the height of latest building boom. The reason for the decrease in construction throughout the years since the 1950’s is due to greedy building codes and municipal exactions that progressively drove the cost of housing ever higher and higher.
Wao, you are throwing logic out the window regarding building rates and housing costs. In the 50s we had the largest population growth in history. All us boomers were going to need housing as were returning veterans thus the building rate grew. But most of those houses still exist. There needs to come a point when building will be replacing existing housing that is unacceptable rather than new housing for a population with slowed growth. Building codes were not repsonsible for housing cost increases. Those reasons are far more complex and are economy related. Everything costs more and housing costs grew at a comparable rate. They are more dramatic as most often housing is our largest investment.