ABSTRACT
The connection made between regulation and a declining rate of homeownership is, to some degree, a function of timing. Many government regulations on land use and housing construction were implemented in the 1970s in response to growing concern about unchecked property development. The chapter addresses how government regulations affecting the housing market can be justified by their social benefits, despite the attendant costs that must be borne by someone landowner, builder, or home buyer. No one disputes that increased government regulation was contemporaneous with declining rates of homeownership. The degree to which increased regulation actually caused and was not merely correlated with declining homeownership rates has not been established. Housing market is a particular point within a more general issue. Hedonic estimates use the price of housing as the dependent variable. One would expect that the literature on regulation and housing would provide a clear analysis of the effect of separate regulations on each stage of the home-building process.
