This may become the war cry of the upcoming elections after a decades-long political focus on everything else. At last some politicians are waking up to the reality:  housing unaffordability is a key driver of higher inflation. The cost of housing has risen much more dramatically than most wages. The shortages of inventory in many areas is driving up prices, and all this is fueling inflation as housing is by far the biggest expense for most people. Add in higher interest rates, and the problem is even worse.

The 2008-9 Great Recession did immeasurable harm in that it stalled construction that has never fully recovered:  many in the construction business, especially smaller builders, left the industry. These people were not pressured to deliver massive profit escalations by Wall Street which has resulted in many larger builders raising prices and focusing more on more expensive homes. Prices have risen in large cities mostly because of a decade-plus of under construction. Large builders are also better equipped to navigate - and influence - the over-complex and slow regulation and zoning laws in most areas, which is mostly a local government issue.

Now we have two extremes of the political spectrum:  one says eliminate regulations, and the other says NOT IN MY BACKYARD and makes things ridiculously complex, slow and expensive, if not impossible. Both are wrong. Both are not economically viable. Should we build homes cheaply in high-risk areas that cannot withstand damage risk because regulations governing their construction methods are eliminated? N0!  (Unless of course those builders create an insurance fund to pay for the damage and destruction when the next weather event destroys those homes and private insurance - or taxpayers - have to foot the bill.)  Should all neighborhoods stay exactly the way they are and not evolve? No! There has to be a happy medium.

This quote addresses another cost-fuel:  new arrivals with deeper pockets than locals:

"We are seeing a lot of folks come into the state, rich folks, who want to try to buy our state, to change it into something it's not".

This may be politically motivated speak, but aside from that it speaks to new increased demand - with under-supply - from people with more income and wealth than the locals:  This drives up prices, making things less affordable for the locals,  and impacts local and national inflation. Building is costly. Materials and labor are expensive (although lots of building labor is not exactly akin to a lawyer's income!). The costs to build may come down a wee bit when removing tariffs on imported goods, when finance costs dip, if we have more labor via intelligent immigration policies (PS: most locals don't want to do the work or don't have the skills), if we install more tech into construction and if we simplify building codes and regulation/approvals......but......none of this will be enough unless wages rise too, especially on the local level as some areas see massive changes.