I fully agree with you that (overly) restrictive zoning is the root cause of at least a few serious problems we currently face. However this bit
> Unless somebody stops them, they're going to keep building more housing units as long as anybody is willing to pay $200,000 for them.
sounds like you're describing a paperclip maximizer and drives home the importance of zoning (or rather land allocation and geographical coordination) as a general concept.
Except that it isn't a paperclip maximizer because it has a well-defined stopping point. They stop doing it when it stops being profitable. Which is to say, when there is no longer a supply shortfall and the sale price falls below the construction cost.
We would be better off if zoning density restrictions were entirely unconstitutional. Some state should try that.
> Unless somebody stops them, they're going to keep building more housing units as long as anybody is willing to pay $200,000 for them.
sounds like you're describing a paperclip maximizer and drives home the importance of zoning (or rather land allocation and geographical coordination) as a general concept.