Word: landed
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...beginning to appear in other states. Indeed, California is a housing Oz unto itself; its population is still growing faster than that of any other large state except Texas; the recession bit especially deep in California, creating a huge backlog of demand, and strict environmental requirements severely limit the land available for housing. Prices are starting to level off, but the level is in the stratosphere. In platinum-plated Beverly Hills, one cynical real estate broker exclaims: "Oh, I have such a dog on the market right now! Come to my Sunday open house and see what I'm offering...
...main reason for housing inflation is that land prices have multiplied six times in the past 20 years and now account for an unprecedented 25% of builders' costs. In some regions the spiral appears to be accelerating. Two examples: in Miami's Bade County, a basic 100-ft. by 75-ft. lot that sold for $3,500 a decade ago now commands $17,500. The price has risen $2,000 just since May, and Douglas Wiles, a Miami housing economist, predicts a further $4,000 increase by year's end. In the northern Virginia suburbs outside Washington, D.C., Builder Edward...
...land-price explosion primarily is the result of simple scarcity: the best housing sites were built on long ago. Another important factor is restrictive zoning practices by communities that set aside less-than-generous land for new housing to begin with and then specify minimum lot sizes that force builders and home buyers to purchase more land than they may want or need. William Kennedy, president of the Homebuilders Association of Greater Chicago, traces the zoning restrictions to a "We've got ours, now close the door mentality" among people who already own houses. Their defense is that they want...
...local environmental regulations are the current headache. They are well intentioned and may indeed prevent ecological damage, but they promote inflation. Fairfax County, Va., stopped all building for 18 months while officials drew up a master plan for development; when the moratorium was lifted, pent-up demand sent land prices soaring...
Environmental regulations jack up the cost of preparing sites for building; in many places that expense is becoming as heavy a burden as the price of the raw land. George F. Schoeck, a bank executive in Morris County, N.J., gives this example: "A builder used to put in a 28-foot road with no curbing. He'd compact it, roll it, lay two inches of black top and dedicate it to the town?and it would be their problem. Now the developer has to lay eight inches of stone with a three-inch binder coat of coarse asphalt...