Caitlin Walker lives in New York. Three years ago, he made the decision to leave Louisiana for the City of Opportunity. In New York, the 24-year-old boy began another journey – the search for housing.

Over the course of three years, Ms. Walker rented three different apartments, having seen first hand how difficult it is to find affordable accommodation with a separate kitchen and bathroom.

Her recent experience even went viral on TikTok as the last time she visited a property, she saw a huge line of potential tenants stretching across the street.

“Finding an apartment in New York. It’s the queue to see the house,” she said, citing the photos.

Her story is one of millions of stories that shed light on the arduous search for a place to live, whether you’re looking for a home in New York, Paris, or even Pagrati.

But how to solve the problem of the inability to find housing? The “classical theory” says that when there are no houses, you build new ones.

According to the Atlantic website, the 2021 study “Influence of supply and demand for new housing in San Francisco and New York” found that the more new housing is built in the area, the lower the prices of old houses.

Jerusalem columnist Demsas’s specific conclusion makes sense, as every time new houses are built, most of the interested people who move into them leave other houses. These houses are then made available to some others, and so on.

However, most of the citizens do not agree with this theory.

Demand skepticism

However, a new study by three UCLA professors says otherwise: 30-40% of Americans believe that if more new housing is built in their area, then rents and home prices will rise. Scientists call this attitude “supply and demand skepticism.” The survey also showed that respondents believe that contractors and property owners are primarily responsible for high rental prices.

But what in this case is causing more and more Americans to have a negative attitude towards the construction of new homes?

As Jerusalem Demsas reports, many citizens now either fear change in their neighborhood or don’t want their neighborhood to become (even more) densely populated.

Be that as it may, the University of California researchers found that the failure to build is likely to seriously hamper the efforts of states and local governments to combat rising rents and housing prices.

housing crisis

The above discussion raises many questions at a time when experts are warning of a looming housing crisis, prompting US lawmakers to take action.

But the problem is not only on the other side of the Atlantic. The rapid expansion of short-term rentals has sounded the alarm in Europe as well, with governments asking the Commission to adopt a clear regulatory framework that will “slow down” the “industry” of sharing.

At the same time, the crisis reached Greece as Airbnb drastically increased its rent. However, it is now clear from the foregoing that the housing crisis is already another international problem requiring durable solutions…

With information from The Atlantic, Newsweek