Ben Keyes

Thanks so much for having me.

Thanks so much for having me.

Thanks so much for having me.

That's right. I mean, I think we can characterize the current state of the housing market as being deeply unaffordable. That's a very expensive market right now. High home prices and high interest rates making entering the housing market or moving up the property ladder very challenging. And I think you can trace back

That's right. I mean, I think we can characterize the current state of the housing market as being deeply unaffordable. That's a very expensive market right now. High home prices and high interest rates making entering the housing market or moving up the property ladder very challenging. And I think you can trace back

That's right. I mean, I think we can characterize the current state of the housing market as being deeply unaffordable. That's a very expensive market right now. High home prices and high interest rates making entering the housing market or moving up the property ladder very challenging. And I think you can trace back

some of these issues back to the financial crisis of 2008, where we saw a collapse in construction. And so we just stopped building houses. We stopped building apartments for a few years there. And an even longer, I would say, structural change in our ability to build and our willingness to build. And so those two factors have really driven a shortage of housing. And now we're seeing estimates of

some of these issues back to the financial crisis of 2008, where we saw a collapse in construction. And so we just stopped building houses. We stopped building apartments for a few years there. And an even longer, I would say, structural change in our ability to build and our willingness to build. And so those two factors have really driven a shortage of housing. And now we're seeing estimates of

some of these issues back to the financial crisis of 2008, where we saw a collapse in construction. And so we just stopped building houses. We stopped building apartments for a few years there. And an even longer, I would say, structural change in our ability to build and our willingness to build. And so those two factors have really driven a shortage of housing. And now we're seeing estimates of

as much as 4 million houses that were short, if you think about where we need to be as a growing population and growing household formation.

as much as 4 million houses that were short, if you think about where we need to be as a growing population and growing household formation.

as much as 4 million houses that were short, if you think about where we need to be as a growing population and growing household formation.

It is a bit of a puzzle, right? I think we can separate out the factors into three main areas. One is the high cost of materials and labor. And we've seen an inflationary episode where we have a very high cost of building materials. We are also in a very tight labor market. So there are not a lot of you know, laborers who are available to build. So that's one category.

It is a bit of a puzzle, right? I think we can separate out the factors into three main areas. One is the high cost of materials and labor. And we've seen an inflationary episode where we have a very high cost of building materials. We are also in a very tight labor market. So there are not a lot of you know, laborers who are available to build. So that's one category.

It is a bit of a puzzle, right? I think we can separate out the factors into three main areas. One is the high cost of materials and labor. And we've seen an inflationary episode where we have a very high cost of building materials. We are also in a very tight labor market. So there are not a lot of you know, laborers who are available to build. So that's one category.

Another category is related to financing. It is very challenging to finance many of these large building projects. And it's not always as easy as it might seem to obtain financing, especially multifamily financing. So building apartment buildings, the financing there is quite challenging.

Another category is related to financing. It is very challenging to finance many of these large building projects. And it's not always as easy as it might seem to obtain financing, especially multifamily financing. So building apartment buildings, the financing there is quite challenging.

Another category is related to financing. It is very challenging to finance many of these large building projects. And it's not always as easy as it might seem to obtain financing, especially multifamily financing. So building apartment buildings, the financing there is quite challenging.

And then the third is related to zoning and land use restrictions and other policies that create a lot of hoops to jump through and make it challenging for developers who would like to build, you know, build at the scale where they would like to build.

And then the third is related to zoning and land use restrictions and other policies that create a lot of hoops to jump through and make it challenging for developers who would like to build, you know, build at the scale where they would like to build.