Pew Study Finds “Restrictive Regulations Fuel New Mexico’s Housing Shortage”

A study by the Pew Charitable Trust earlier this year has found that New Mexico’s housing woes are worse than the US as a whole, and that restrictive regulations are making the situation worse.

This study shoes that median rents in New Mexico climbed 60% from 2017 to 2024 vs an increase of 27% for the US overall. This rise in the cost of housing has, not surprisingly, been paired with a dramatic increase in homelessness- 87% in New Mexico vs 40% in the United States as a whole. Since homelessness rates are largely dictated by the cost of housing, these two data points will likely continue to rise in tandem until we can intervene.

Pew cites a lack of housing supply as the primary driver of the climbing cost of housing, and demonstrates how restrictive zoning is curtailing New Mexico’s housing supply.

We need to keep supporting pro-housing regulation updates in Taos County & in the Town of Taos, especially as both are undergoing land use regulation updates. Stay tuned for more specific ways to weigh in or email us at info@taoshousingpartnership.org to stay in the loop.