Gentrification and housing prices 绅士化与房价
Apart from taller buildings, another argument that continue persist as far as housing problem is concerned is gentrification. Notably, local politicians and residents observe that gentrification is likely to affect low-income areas by increasing housing prices in such areas, thus displacing them (Dougherty, 2016). To begin with, gentrification is defined as the process of renovating old houses in a particular with the aim of ensuring that their quality standards conforms of the standards of the middle class in society (Clark, 2005). The concerns of the local residents and politicians on gentrification is based on the argument that through renovating these houses, both their perceived and actual value will rise, thus displacing the local residents who are incapable of paying rent prices that are consistent with the value of the renovated houses.
除了更高的建筑，另一个在住房问题上持续存在的论点是绅士化。值得注意的是，当地政界人士和居民观察到，中产阶级化可能会通过提高低收入地区的房价而影响这些地区，从而取代他们（Dougherty，2016）。首先，绅士化被定义为在特定地区翻新旧房子的过程，目的是确保其质量标准符合社会中产阶级的标准（Clark，2005）。当地居民和政客对中产阶级化的担忧基于这样一种观点，即通过翻新这些房屋，其感知价值和实际价值都将上升，从而取代无力支付与翻新房屋价值一致的租金的当地居民。
Arguably, their arguments are valid because of a number of aspects. To begin with, once an area have been identified and marked for gentrification, it is likely to attract investors who purchases such houses from the local residents with the knowledge that once they have been renovated, their prices will rise. This is based on the fact that once consumers within a particular market have knowledge that the price of a particular commodity will rise in a near future, they are likely to purchase it with the hope that once its price rises, they would be able to sell it at a profit (Teitelbaum and Zeiler, 2018). Therefore, the rich are likely to buy houses that would be innovated with the aim of renovating and either selling them for profit or charging a higher rent to middle income earners.
可以说，他们的论点是有效的，因为有许多方面。首先，一旦一个地区被确定并标记为绅士化，就有可能吸引投资者从当地居民那里购买此类房屋，因为他们知道一旦这些房屋被翻新，其价格就会上涨。这是基于这样一个事实，即一旦特定市场中的消费者知道某一特定商品的价格在不久的将来会上涨，他们很可能会购买该商品，并希望一旦价格上涨，他们能够以盈利的价格出售该商品（Teitelbaum和Zeiler，2018）。因此，富人可能会购买以翻新为目的的创新型房屋，或者出售以获利，或者向中等收入者收取更高的租金。
Similarly, the concerns of the local politicians and residents are valid because of the fact that despite the potential rise in value of houses in low-income areas, this does not imply that they income will rise in consistent with a rise in the value of housing. As Autor, Palmer and Pathak (2014) observe, income play a critical role in determining the ability of consumers to purchase certain commodities on the market. Whereas this is the case, in most cases, the price of commodities often rise faster as compared to the income of consumers, particular with regard to commodities such as housing. Therefore, this lack of consistency between level of growth in income and the rise in housing value in low-income areas implies that renovation will displace them because of a decline in their ability to afford such houses.
同样，当地政客和居民的担忧也是合理的，因为尽管低收入地区的房屋价值可能会上升，但这并不意味着他们的收入会随着房屋价值的上升而上升。正如Autor、Palmer和Pathak（2014）所观察到的，收入在决定消费者在市场上购买某些商品的能力方面起着关键作用。虽然情况确实如此，但在大多数情况下，与消费者收入相比，商品价格往往上涨得更快，尤其是住房等商品。因此，低收入地区的收入增长水平与住房价值上升之间缺乏一致性，这意味着翻新将取代他们，因为他们购买此类住房的能力下降。
Rent control 租金管制
Apart from concerns over gentrification, a section of society argues that developing and enacting rent control policy will help alleviate the problem of housing is society. To begin with, there is a need to observe that implementing rent control policies in the short run could help alleviate the problem of housing by improving affordability (Oliner, 2016). This is particularly the case in the sense that by putting a cap on the maximum amount that landlords can charge their tenants with respect to particular type of house as well as their location, rent is likely to reduce in the short. Note that most landlords will reduce rent to avoid penalties and fines for going against the government directive on rent prices. From an economic point of view, the government can control the behaviour of their citizens either through incentives or punishment (Teitelbaum and Zeiler, 2018). Therefore in this case, the fear of punishment will lead to a decline in housing prices.
除了对中产阶级化的担忧外，社会上还有一部分人认为，制定和实施租金管制政策将有助于缓解社会住房问题。首先，需要注意的是，在短期内实施租金控制政策可以通过提高可负担性帮助缓解住房问题（Oliner，2016）。这种情况尤其如此，因为通过对房东就特定类型的房屋及其位置向其租户收取的更高金额设定上限，短期内租金可能会降低。请注意，大多数房东会降低租金，以避免因违反政府关于租金价格的指令而受到处罚和罚款。从经济角度来看，政府可以通过激励或惩罚来控制公民的行为（Teitelbaum和Zeiler，2018）。因此，在这种情况下，害怕惩罚将导致房价下跌。
Whereas this is the case, this policy cannot be sustained in the long run. Notably, due to the decline in returns in the housing sector, investors are likely to reduce their investment in this sector because of high opportunity cost (Teitelbaum & Zeiler, 2018). In this case, rather than investing in the housing sector, most investors will invest in other sectors where returns are high. On the other hand, the population will not stagnate because of a decline of investment in the housing sector but rather, it will continue to grow, pushing the demand for houses upwards. Moreover, some bank clients will not be able to secure mortgages because their return in investment is not consistent with the mortgages that could help them put up new houses. Therefore, as this demand grows, it could result in an emergence of a black market where tenants agree to pay extra amount outside government sanctioned channels in order to secure a place to live (Baumol & Blinder, 2008). While this is the case, this behaviour cannot be sustained for long due to higher demand that exceeds even houses that are rented out with off the book charges. Therefore, the government will have no choice but to abolish rent control policies, leading to a sharp rise in prices.
然而，从长远来看，这一政策是无法维持的。值得注意的是，由于房地产行业回报率下降，投资者可能会因为高机会成本而减少对该行业的投资（Teitelbaum&Zeiler，2018）。在这种情况下，大多数投资者将投资于回报率高的其他行业，而不是投资于住房部门。另一方面，人口不会因为住房部门投资下降而停滞，而是会继续增长，推动住房需求上升。此外，一些银行客户将无法获得抵押贷款，因为他们的投资回报与帮助他们建造新房的抵押贷款不一致。因此，随着这种需求的增长，可能会出现一个黑市，租户同意在政府批准的渠道之外支付额外的费用，以获得一个居住的地方（Baumol&Blinder，2008）。虽然如此，但这种行为无法持续很长时间，因为更高的需求甚至超过了以帐外费用出租的房屋。因此，政府将别无选择，只能取消租金管制政策，导致物价暴涨。
Conclusion 结论
In conclusion, despite the existence of different proposals in society on the ways and means of addressing housing problem, most of them fail to recognise the economic forces that influence housing prices. Notably, whereas building taller building and implement rent control policies can help alleviate housing problems in the short through reducing the price of house, this solution is not viable in the long run because of the rise in value of such values and a sharp decline in supply of houses respectively. Similarly, gentrification is likely to serve the interests of middle class in the short run but over-investment in renovation could end up reducing prices of houses in the long run. Therefore, banks need to monitor not only rent policies, gentrification and building of taller buildings but also other factors such as income, which play a critical role in determining the ability of consumers to afford houses.
总而言之，尽管社会上对解决住房问题的方式方法存在不同的建议，但大多数建议都没有认识到影响房价的经济力量。值得注意的是，尽管建造更高的建筑物和实施租金控制政策可以通过降低房价在短期内帮助缓解住房问题，但从长远来看，这一解决方案是不可行的，因为这些价值的上升和住房供应量的急剧下降。类似地，从短期来看，绅士化可能有利于中产阶级的利益，但从长期来看，过度投资于装修可能最终降低房价。因此，银行不仅需要监控租金政策、绅士化和高层建筑的建设，还需要监控收入等其他因素，这些因素在决定消费者购房能力方面起着关键作用。