On the heels of his election, Mayor Jeromy Farkas spoke about blanket rezoning and what he sees as the problem with the new homes the policy has helped build in Calgary. “(Rezoning) hasn’t delivered the level of housing at the affordable price point that Calgarians are expecting,” he said.

On that note, the mayor is right. Rezoning hasn’t made new homes that are cheaper than the ones they’ve replaced. The issue is that it wasn’t designed to do that. Rezoning was designed to prevent older homes from being some of the most expensive houses available.

Housing and cars have a lot in common. When a new car rolls off the assembly line, it’s not supposed to be more affordable than a used car. What the presence of a new car does, however, is cause a chain reaction that lowers the resale value of used cars. Last year’s model doesn’t fetch the same premium that it does now that the new model is out. The model from two years ago also takes a hit. And so on.

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