Why is housing so expensive? Because we made it that way.
High housing costs aren’t a law of nature, they’re the result of choices. Policy choices about zoning, parking mandates, minimum lot sizes, and endless procedural and regulatory hurdles that block new homes from being built. The good news? States are starting to show what it looks like to break free of those constraints.
Mercatus urban economists Salim Furth, Emily Hamilton, and Charles Gardner lay out a practical menu of reforms that state lawmakers can adopt in 2026. Some are simple but powerful: permitting accessory dwelling units, capping minimum lot sizes, and letting residential development happen in commercial zones. Others target legal bottlenecks, such as protest petitions and lawsuits designed to stop projects before they start. Together, the suggested reforms add up to a blueprint for tackling the affordability crisis at its root: supply.
This past year Texas and Wisconsin already demonstrated what’s possible by rolling back local overreach. Montana even had a miracle. Now the question is whether more states will seize the moment. The reforms are on the table, and what we need now is the political will to adopt them. We could see lower housing prices and more housing options. There are few clearer, bipartisan policy wins than that.
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