Realtors: "Let's Go Block-Busting Again!!"

The Washington Examiner tries to spin the Biden* "fair housing" act.  Apparently the National Association of Realtors wants another "block-busting" era so it writes their news.

The Biden administration is steering the federal government toward housing market deregulation in an effort to boost supply and lower prices.

A provision in President Joe Biden’s infrastructure proposal calls for a new $5 billion grant program to reward local governments that cut back land use regulations to allow for more construction of housing....

 it is one of several signs that officials within the administration see the regulatory barriers to housing construction as a serious problem that needs to be addressed.

The shortage of housing is a “dire” crisis, the National Association of Realtors declared earlier this month, citing an underbuilding gap of 5.5 to 6.8 million housing units since 2001. The group called for a “once-in-a-generation” policy response, including the easing of zoning and permitting rules to allow for more construction....

You want that translated into reality-speak?  OK!

Local zoning codes include requirements for X number square feet of yard for Y number square feet of building footprint and 'setback' requirements keeping space between houses and the street, and between houses themselves.  

Look at the house-to-yard ratio in the City of Milwaukee for single-family housing.  Note that Wauwatosa, Shorewood, and Whitefish Bay have nearly-identical 'footprint' and setback regs.  Yet the Realtors imply that it costs more to buy in those 'burbs because of 'restrictive regs'.  How does that work, exactly?

In addition, local regs determine how many living units (apartments, condos) can be on X-square-feet of land.  Want to reduce the cost-of-land/housing unit?  Make taller buildings or reduce lot-size.  Those are the ONLY two possibilities.  Yet the City of Milwaukee has umpty-hundred apartments recently created in its Third Ward area using re-purposed warehouses and factories.  How can they possibly be so expensive to rent?

The Biden*-Pelosi proposal has nothing to do with reality and everything to do with building cheap-to-rent and cheap-to-buy properties in the 'burbs.  We used to call that "block-busting."  Realtors loved it then, and they love it now.