February 15, 2008

I wonder what the figure is for New York?

Between 1989 and 2006, the median inflation-adjusted price of a Seattle house rose from $221,000 to $447,800. Fully $200,000 of that increase was the result of land-use regulations, says [University of Washington economics professor] Theo Eicher -- twice the financial impact that regulation has had on other major U.S. cities.

"In a nationwide study, it can be shown that Seattle is one of the most regulated cities and a city whose housing prices are profoundly influenced by regulations," he says....

More: SoundPolitics and (an opposing view) The Stranger "Slog". And Virginia Postrel in the November Atlantic (h/t Ted) has a compelling look at the nationwide differences between localities where the right to build is costly, such as Los Angeles, and those where it is cheap, such as Dallas (examples which illustrate why terms such as "Sunbelt" unhelpfully elide broad divides in regulatory approach and economic outcome).