I agree with the pessimism that we are unlikely to completely solve the problem with these measures, although I believe that is for political economy reasons and not because it's impossible. However I also don't think we should let the perfect be the enemy of the good.
> I wonder how many new houses would need to be built to reduce prices to what I would consider affordable.
A single new unit permits one additional family to live in the Bay Area. Even if we don't build enough to let everyone live here who wants to, each one we do build counts. And if we built enough it would actually bring prices down.
> I wonder why developers would want to sell houses at that rate when new townhomes in Dublin are going for 700k and your looking at 1m+ for a new home
Developers just need to earn a spread between development cost and purchase price. Developers will happily build units as long as that spread is sufficient compensation. We are a long way from bringing that spread down to zero (and if we ever got there houses would be much cheaper!!).
> I wonder how people with high home values, especially those who bought in high, will feel about losing so much of their home's value
Increased as of right property rights actually increases land value and probably ends up being net positive for homeowners.
> suspect homes in SF won't become "affordable" again until another economic crash of some sort
This is probably true, but increased supply can at least alleviate the problem.
> I wonder how many new houses would need to be built to reduce prices to what I would consider affordable.
A single new unit permits one additional family to live in the Bay Area. Even if we don't build enough to let everyone live here who wants to, each one we do build counts. And if we built enough it would actually bring prices down.
> I wonder why developers would want to sell houses at that rate when new townhomes in Dublin are going for 700k and your looking at 1m+ for a new home
Developers just need to earn a spread between development cost and purchase price. Developers will happily build units as long as that spread is sufficient compensation. We are a long way from bringing that spread down to zero (and if we ever got there houses would be much cheaper!!).
> I wonder how people with high home values, especially those who bought in high, will feel about losing so much of their home's value
Increased as of right property rights actually increases land value and probably ends up being net positive for homeowners.
> suspect homes in SF won't become "affordable" again until another economic crash of some sort
This is probably true, but increased supply can at least alleviate the problem.