Sam Bowman on Irish housing costs

The Irish Times – ICLE Director of Competition Policy Sam Bowman was quoted by The Irish Times in a story about the shortage of rental properties in Ireland. The full story is available here.

The UK-based Irish economist Sam Bowman, who is director of competition policy at the International Center for Law & Economics in Portland, United States, points out that house prices in Ireland have risen by 800 per cent in 40 years, during a period when every other household product has become less expensive. This isn’t a uniquely Irish phenomenon. In cities across the developed world, housing has become much more expensive than the cost of building it, and rents have risen in tandem with prices.