Palm Beach Libertarians Offer Solutions to Soaring Rent & Housing Costs
May 18, 2022
The Libertarian Party of Palm Beach County (LP Palm Beach) has come out with practical solutions to the soaring costs for Palm Beach County’s housing market - for both renters and residential buyers. LP Palm Beach Chair, Karl Dickey, said this morning, “Recently the county government was exploring the idea of instituting rent controls and thankfully they dismissed the idea as it would have only benefited high income renters. We agree with county Mayor Weinroth that we need more inventory, and we have better solutions.”
The county government would not have been able to institute rent controls even if they had wanted to, as it would have been unlawful and unconstitutional. Based on many studies, including one from Stanford University, it would have only caused scarcer housing and higher prices - the direct opposite of its intent.
While Palm Beach County is not immune from the law of supply and demand, the county government and its inclusive cities could help increase affordable housing by eliminating restrictive zoning, as it further reduces housing supply and raises housing costs. It is through government’s restrictive regulations reduces housing supply, which is mostly responsible for not having enough housing available to meet the demand.
Researchers at Harvard and the University of Pennsylvania have found that housing price differences between cities are not because of a variation in land prices or construction costs but to regulatory differences, primarily zoning and building restrictions. Similar research from the Lincoln Land Institute found that “house prices in cities with stricter regulatory policies rose 30 percent to 60 percent relative to less-restrictively regulated cities over a 15-year period.” And according to the National Association of Home Builders, every “$1,000 increase in home price leads to about 232,447 households priced out of the market for a median-priced new home.” As Adrian Moore has pointed out in an article about Sarasota, Florida, it is government subsidies which further cause housing prices to rise. Moore writes, “What really drives housing affordability is supply and demand. We have no shortage of demand in Sarasota. Supply is the problem. Like so many places, Sarasota has throngs of people who have moved here, purchased their home and now want to put a stop to any more growth. They got theirs, and now they want to shut the gate on everyone else. This stance is unfair and morally bankrupt. Moreover, it simply violates the property rights enshrined in our Constitution, which are crucial to our way of life.”
Another important solution to help reduce the cost to renters and homeowners is to reduce government spending, reducing millage, reducing property taxes on investor property, and less rent for tenants. As we enter budgeting season for local governments, local politicians must eliminate the temptation to further intrude themselves on the real estate market and loosen regulations while reducing their spending so they can reduce property taxes via the millage rate. Local governments are already going to receive some of the largest taxable income they have ever seen due to the large number of parcels selling for the record prices. Reducing the millage rate is practical and helpful.
Dickey said, “We should not be running to the government seeking solutions everytime a crisis rears its ugly head, it is the government who often creates the problem in the first place and even more often, government’s ‘solution’ will make the crisis worse and more drawn out. Loosen restrictions on the real estate market, reduce government spending, and let the market work itself out. We have other helpful measures and look forward to the county government, as well as its 39 cities, towns and villages, adopting more practical solutions.”
The Libertarian Party of Palm Beach County (LP Palm Beach) has come out with practical solutions to the soaring costs for Palm Beach County’s housing market - for both renters and residential buyers. LP Palm Beach Chair, Karl Dickey, said this morning, “Recently the county government was exploring the idea of instituting rent controls and thankfully they dismissed the idea as it would have only benefited high income renters. We agree with county Mayor Weinroth that we need more inventory, and we have better solutions.”
The county government would not have been able to institute rent controls even if they had wanted to, as it would have been unlawful and unconstitutional. Based on many studies, including one from Stanford University, it would have only caused scarcer housing and higher prices - the direct opposite of its intent.
While Palm Beach County is not immune from the law of supply and demand, the county government and its inclusive cities could help increase affordable housing by eliminating restrictive zoning, as it further reduces housing supply and raises housing costs. It is through government’s restrictive regulations reduces housing supply, which is mostly responsible for not having enough housing available to meet the demand.
Researchers at Harvard and the University of Pennsylvania have found that housing price differences between cities are not because of a variation in land prices or construction costs but to regulatory differences, primarily zoning and building restrictions. Similar research from the Lincoln Land Institute found that “house prices in cities with stricter regulatory policies rose 30 percent to 60 percent relative to less-restrictively regulated cities over a 15-year period.” And according to the National Association of Home Builders, every “$1,000 increase in home price leads to about 232,447 households priced out of the market for a median-priced new home.” As Adrian Moore has pointed out in an article about Sarasota, Florida, it is government subsidies which further cause housing prices to rise. Moore writes, “What really drives housing affordability is supply and demand. We have no shortage of demand in Sarasota. Supply is the problem. Like so many places, Sarasota has throngs of people who have moved here, purchased their home and now want to put a stop to any more growth. They got theirs, and now they want to shut the gate on everyone else. This stance is unfair and morally bankrupt. Moreover, it simply violates the property rights enshrined in our Constitution, which are crucial to our way of life.”
Another important solution to help reduce the cost to renters and homeowners is to reduce government spending, reducing millage, reducing property taxes on investor property, and less rent for tenants. As we enter budgeting season for local governments, local politicians must eliminate the temptation to further intrude themselves on the real estate market and loosen regulations while reducing their spending so they can reduce property taxes via the millage rate. Local governments are already going to receive some of the largest taxable income they have ever seen due to the large number of parcels selling for the record prices. Reducing the millage rate is practical and helpful.
Dickey said, “We should not be running to the government seeking solutions everytime a crisis rears its ugly head, it is the government who often creates the problem in the first place and even more often, government’s ‘solution’ will make the crisis worse and more drawn out. Loosen restrictions on the real estate market, reduce government spending, and let the market work itself out. We have other helpful measures and look forward to the county government, as well as its 39 cities, towns and villages, adopting more practical solutions.”