Many folks are often incredulous that "a trip to the permit office" could be a meaningful driver of housing costs. On the hard costs, the permits are on the same order of mag as a washing machine. So what's the problem?
In this paper, researchers use market data to estimate how much more developers are willing to pay if a empty lot comes with permits (as opposed to without). The answer:
50% more.
Getting permits adds 50% to the value of the empty land!
The paper: https://evansoltas.com/papers/Permitting_SoltasGruber2026.pdf
Posted by TDaltonC