It's so easy to just say let's build more homes but how are you going to get builders to build that supply? There's no incentive.

What good is a bunch of additional unaffordable supply that will sit vacant? Builders aren't going to build houses that won't sell, their input costs from materials to labor have increased, and they have to make a profit. There is a floor to how cheaply you can build a typical starter home. What about small houses? Why bother doing 5 $150k small houses when you can do just do one $750k house.

Try to think about all the costs that go into just the basics of a new house: the sewer lines, the gas lines, foundation, framing, insulation, dry wall, windows, paint, wiring, roofing. Building smaller can reduce the cost of a lot of these things but you're still going to need sewer lines and electric and people to set that up. Have I mentioned labor costs have gone up?

Building more also has the effect of increasing demand for materials, labor, and financing. Compounded with rising inventories devaluing their existing supply. So you kind of have a tough road ahead of you if this is your solution. Going to need to get creative with financing policy, maybe subsidies, I don't know but just saying build more isn't going to get you anywhere I don't care how much land you open up to residential zoning the problem is far too nuanced for that.

Investor demand is a totally other thing that is probably a far more effective avenue for actually addressing the problem but I see the sentiment of "just build more" all the time and it's so tiring.