Study On Housing Costs
November 13, 2003

By David W. Chen

Government regulations are largely responsible for the high cost of housing construction in Manhattan, according to a study released yesterday. The study -- "Why Is Manhattan So Expensive?" -- was published by the Manhattan Institute, a policy research group that favors less government regulation. It focused on why so few new apartments have been built in Manhattan since 1980, despite a solid economy and escalating real estate prices. The study's authors -- Edward L. Glaeser of Harvard and Joseph Gyourko of the University of Pennsylvania -- concluded, by a mathematical analysis of costs, that government regulations were a form of tax. It can amount to as much as 50 percent of the total price of the median condominium, for example, the authors said. The study did not cite specific regulations. Some housing experts said the study neglected difficult-to-measure factors, like demographics.

©2003 The New York Times