> If demand continues to tick up while the slowdown in construction persists, the Harvard report warns that this will "risk sparking another period of rapid rent increases similar to the recent run-up that has contributed to the worst renter affordability conditions on record."

That may be true in certain areas, but I don't think it applies where I live. Prices of existing homes just simply chase the cost to build a new home. The older the neighborhood, the less authoritarian the covenants are. The new development down the road start out at about $150k more for smaller lots, less house, and an HOA primed with rules ready to ream you a new one for simply breathing wrong. I poked around and some of the other recent developments have the same or similar covenants.