Private Production -- The Rising Tide
John C. Weicher's review of housing quality in the U.S. suggests that there has been a general improvement in the quality of housing in America during each of the decades since World War II. Moreover, he maintains that the rising tide has lifted all boats, and that the housing situation for all groups, including the poor, has steadily improved during this time.
Weicher cites a number of studies showing advances in the numbers of adequate housing units and reductions in the number of inadequate units. While many inconsistencies between the various studies exist, such things as plumbing, crowding, and physical structure were often considered. The studies show steady reduc-tions in the percentage of occupied substandard units during the 1970s (p. 49). Even for low income groups and minorities, the studies showed that improvements occurred in nearly all areas of housing adequacy between 1973 and 1983, except for the presence of rats and mice (p. 51).
The improvements in the housing situation were attributed to rising real incomes, falling relative prices for housing, govern-ment programs to clear slums and subsidize housing, and new private housing construction which results in a process called "filtering." The author presented data showing increases in median real incomes during the 1960s and 1970s, and a dramatic 18% decrease in real housing costs for renters during the 1970s. The real costs of homeownership increased during the 1970s, but most poor people tend to be renters rather than owners so the data appear to support Weicher's case (p. 52).
"Filtering" is a process that supposedly occurs when new higher quality housing is built for the more prosperous members of society. When they move into new housing units, they leave older lower quality units. In theory, construction on a large scale leads to a reduced demand for the older units, which reduces the price. This allows p...