Goldman Says Looser Land Rules May Ease US’s Housing Squeeze

US housing affordability has declined sharply over the past decade and relaxing land-use regulations could go a long way toward helping address America’s housing crunch, according to Goldman Sachs Group Inc.

Goldman Sachs economists led by Jan Hatzius estimate that if major metropolitan areas adopted regulations as loose as those in the least restrictive quartile of cities, housing supply would expand by an extra 2.5 million units over the next decade, according to a research note.