A new article in The Nation argues that recent books on housing affordability wrongly focus on NIMBYism and regulations while ignoring the role of private equity firms. These investors are snapping up homes across the country, driving up prices and rents. The piece highlights successful community-led projects that counter the narrative of obstructive local opposition.
The housing crisis in the United States has sparked debate, with two prominent books—Abundance by Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson, and Stuck by Yoni Appelbaum—attributing shortages to local "not in my backyard" (NIMBY) opposition and excessive government regulations. However, a January 16, 2026, article in The Nation by Roberta Brandes Gratz challenges this view, asserting that private equity firms are the overlooked culprits.
Gratz points out that private equity has increasingly targeted residential properties, buying new and existing homes in cities such as Bozeman, Montana; Burlington, Vermont; Charlotte, North Carolina; and New York City. This activity leads to rising rents, higher sale prices, and reduced maintenance, making housing unaffordable for individuals. Neither book mentions this trend, despite former President Trump's January acknowledgment of the issue, where he urged Congress to prevent Wall Street firms from purchasing single-family homes. Local measures, like taxes on such sales, offer a more feasible response, according to the article.
The piece also defends NIMBYism, arguing that community input often prevents harmful developments, such as oversized projects or luxury condos disrupting neighborhoods. Gratz cites the example of the T-Building in Queens' Kew Gardens neighborhood. Originally the 1937 Triboro Hospital for Tuberculosis, designed by architect John Russell Pope, the Art Deco structure was repurposed after two failed proposals. The successful third plan, supported by locals, created 200 apartments in 2022: 75 supportive units, 75 low-income affordable units, and 50 moderate-income units, all within the existing building and funded by government subsidies without displacing prior affordable housing.
Drawing on Megan Greenwell's book Bad Company: Private Equity and the Death of the American Dream, Gratz explains how these firms profit through management fees, transaction fees, and tax advantages. As Greenwell writes, "Private equity firms earn management fees, transaction fees, and monitoring fees that typical companies do not. They benefit from tax breaks.… Even the company going out of business entirely can be lucrative for its private‑equity owner." Beneficiaries include university endowments and pension funds, which may explain the lack of scrutiny. Gratz concludes that NIMBYs frequently guide better outcomes, fostering steady change over destabilizing overdevelopment.
