Abstract
This study replicates, using 2010 Census data, and extends past work on moderately rent-controlled municipalities in New Jersey, which began policies to stabilize rents while allowing landlords modest returns in the 1970s. Our approach compares controlled and non-controlled communities over 10,000 persons; and regresses rental housing characteristics (rent and quality/quantity) on two measures of rent control: nominal (1/0) and ordinal (an index of policy diversity/strength). Because the decade 2000-2010 was unique due to the housing bubble and recession, we expand previous analyses by introducing two additional dependent variables: changes in property values, which may be affected by restrictions on rents; and foreclosure rates, a problem affecting investors and a proxy for abandonment. We find that these 40-year-old policies do not exert any statistically-significant effects on their communities' housing markets once other factors are controlled-a finding which has implications for affordable housing and advocacy in New Jersey and beyond.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 121-133 |
Number of pages | 13 |
Journal | Cities |
Volume | 49 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Dec 1 2015 |
Keywords
- Affordable housing
- Foreclosures
- Housing policy
- Rent control
- Rental housing
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Development
- Sociology and Political Science
- Urban Studies
- Tourism, Leisure and Hospitality Management