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myths of luxury housing
2021-07-18 22:00https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2021/4/27/are-new-homes-mostly-luxury-does-it-matter-if-they-are
* new construction does lower prices
* most homes are inhabited, and vacancy rates are low in high cost cities; keeping housing off the market isn't a big thing
* "luxury" is a meaningless marketing term, applicable to utterly banal stuff. Also a meaningless term of opprobrium, as when owners of $2 million homes sneer at $500,000 "luxury" condos.
* But what is normal now is more 'luxurious' than in 1971. New apartments come with amenity services like concierge, gyms, pools. Houses have doubled in size and are on larger lots.
* Actual cost of constructing housing hasn't changed much, but costs go up with land cost and size.
* Main thing driving all that is zoning laws: they require large lots, off-street parking, and low levels of density. And when stuff has to be expensive, you aim upmarket, thus gyms.
* Adding my own knowledge here: absuridities like 800 square foot studios can probably be explained by zoning laws requiring more parking for 1BRs than for studios.
* new construction does lower prices
* most homes are inhabited, and vacancy rates are low in high cost cities; keeping housing off the market isn't a big thing
* "luxury" is a meaningless marketing term, applicable to utterly banal stuff. Also a meaningless term of opprobrium, as when owners of $2 million homes sneer at $500,000 "luxury" condos.
* But what is normal now is more 'luxurious' than in 1971. New apartments come with amenity services like concierge, gyms, pools. Houses have doubled in size and are on larger lots.
* Actual cost of constructing housing hasn't changed much, but costs go up with land cost and size.
* Main thing driving all that is zoning laws: they require large lots, off-street parking, and low levels of density. And when stuff has to be expensive, you aim upmarket, thus gyms.
* Adding my own knowledge here: absuridities like 800 square foot studios can probably be explained by zoning laws requiring more parking for 1BRs than for studios.