Poll: Housing industry is part of affordability problem

What’s the biggest cause of high housing costs in the nation?

Industry insiders answer that government bureaucracy slows or prevents the construction of new housing, compounded by the public’s “not-in-my-backyard” aversion to adding homes in their neighborhoods.

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Well, one poll shows the typical American thinks the industry needs to look at itself, too. The Searchlight Institute’s recent poll of 2,123 U.S. adults on housing provides another perspective on the grand affordability debate.

There’s no argument about the scope of the financial burden, as 93% of those polled said housing was overly expensive – with 43% saying “way too high.”

But one question summed up the doubts about the industry’s contention that housing construction is the best cure for affordability.

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