Here’s a topic that we haven’t discussed much here: Growth Management. Some people argue that aggressive growth management policies are responsible for much of King County’s ridiculous run-up in prices. A reader pointed me toward a 2001 article published by a group called the Washington Research Council, in which they argued that King County’s growth management had caused housing prices to skyrocket.
As communities develop their visions for the future, they are deciding how much land is needed for their growing populations. Washington State, under the 1990 Growth Management Act, and dozens of cities and counties around the country, have drawn geographical boundaries designed to halt sprawl and concentrate development into urban growth areas (UGAs). By channeling growth into these urban areas, and assuring the appropriate infrastructure is available, government intends to encourage economic development even as it preserves environmental quality.
But early examples of how these policies actually play out in real life demonstrate that growth management can have serious, unintended consequences. It has contributed to increases in land prices and development costs. These, in turn, have driven up new housing prices and placed an upward pressure on prices for existing housing.
…
The debate has also heated up in King County. In line with the state’s Growth Management Act, King County established its urban growth boundary in 1994. Combined with soaring job and population growth in the mid to late 1990s, housing prices in the UGA skyrocketed.
Wow, if they thought housing prices had "skyrocketed" in 2001, I can only imagine what the authors of this paper must be thinking now. (Interestingly, a recent blog post at the Washington Research Council—currently on their front page—claims that "…the supply/demand balance will remain tight in this market, and that argues for house prices to remain firm here.") It should be noted however, that the word "bubble" does not appear anywhere in the above article.
Personally, I think that King County entered bubble territory around 2002-2003, and while the Growth Management Act certainly isn’t putting any downward pressure on prices, I don’t think it is responsible for pushing us into this crazy unaffordable mess. What do you think?
(Washington Research Council, 03.26.2001)