A household enters a new home
The new building absorbs demand that otherwise would pursue existing housing.
How benefits travel
One new home can open many doors.
The first tenant is only the beginning: their move usually leaves another home available for someone else.
1New home→
2Existing home→
3Older home→
4Lower-cost home
Housing markets are connected through moves. A household entering a new apartment vacates an older one; the next household may vacate another. Researchers can trace these chains across neighborhoods and income levels.
Their former home becomes available
Another household gains an option in the existing stock.
Vacancies travel through the market
Repeated moves reach older and less expensive homes over time.
A simple example
A chain, not a trickle-down promise
One vacancy serves one household and then disappears.
A sequence of vacancies connects new and existing submarkets.
New market-rate housing helps broadly through competition and vacancies, while subsidy remains essential for deep affordability.
See the evidence
Strong evidenceOne new home can open many doors.Read the studies →Strong evidenceSaying no to new homes does not make newcomers disappear.Read the studies →