Housing expert: New Mexico doing nothing to address housing shortage
New Mexico is a land of crises. Perhaps that should be the new motto. It is well documented that housing prices have risen dramatically across the state, especially in urban areas. Governments at all levels are spending tens-of-millions of dollars on various “affordable” housing schemes.
But, housing is ultimately a supply and demand issue driven by the cost of building housing (which impacts the supply) and the number of people who are in the housing market. New Mexico’s population is growing slowly overall, yet the crisis is real.
Which makes it even more shocking that (as the Santa Fe New Mexican reports), the Legislature is doing nothing to address the problem. The following are direct quotes from the story:
New Mexico is alone among states in the region in its failure to reduce restrictions on new housing construction in recent years, a housing expert told lawmakers at a hearing Tuesday.
That has contributed significantly to skyrocketing housing costs in New Mexico, said Alex Horowitz, director of the housing policy initiative for The Pew Charitable Trusts.
Horowitz cited numerous building code reforms and bills designed to streamline permitting that have been adopted by lawmakers in Colorado, California, Arizona, Texas and other states throughout the nation over the past several years. The changes have helped those states increase their inventory of housing, he said, resulting in lower rent growth or even rent reductions in some major cities.
Meanwhile, the increase in median monthly rent in New Mexico and Santa Fe has far outpaced the national rate, the median cost of a new home in the state has soared, and housing inventory has plummeted.
Among the numerous housing market problems the RGF has cited: gross receipts taxes, onerous zoning laws, permitting problems, and regulation (like MLG’s new building codes) are some of the largest cost-drivers.
