The federal government owns about 640 million acres of land, mostly located in Alaska and the Western United States, said the analysis. Meanwhile, there is very little or no federal land available in the Northeast, where the housing shortage is estimated at 830,000 homes. For affordable housing development in lower-cost regions to be successful, increased support for remote work and new economic hubs would be necessary to encourage migration to those areas, said Realtor.com.
The number of homes that could be built on federal lands would vary dramatically depending on development density, said the report. For example, New York County’s housing density is about 61.4 units per acre, while density in Cook County, Illinois, is 3.7 units per acre. Harris County, Texas, supports 1.8 units per acre, Providence County, Rhode Island, supports 1.1 units per acre and Williamson County, Texas, supports 0.4 units per acre. In Clark County, Nevada, density averages 0.2 units per acre, and in Tuscaloosa County, Alabama, density is 0.1 units per acre.
When those density averages are extrapolated over the needed 3.8 million units to solve the housing crisis, New York County would require 62,000 acres while Tuscaloosa County would require more than 31 million acres/
“While freeing up federal lands for housing is one of many solutions on the table, addressing the housing crisis at scale requires aligning supply with where demand actually is,” said Hale. “That means advancing local reforms, such as easing zoning restrictions, encouraging missing-middle housing, and investing in infrastructure and transit, to unlock land that’s already close to jobs, schools and amenities.”