Connecticut's housing crisis - a created problem that will likely solve itself

This excerpt from The Red Line, written by a smart Greenwich resident, Red Jahncke, contains data that demonstrates the housing crisis in Connecticut is self-imposed and it will not last long. He expects that the onerous housing bill that was rushed through the Connecticut legislature and is now on the Governor's desk, will prove unnecessary.

The Red Line, November 24, 2025. The Democrats' recent one-day emergency session of the General Assembly suspended genuine democratic processes....An emergency session is supposed to deal with a truly unforseen emergency...

All of this could have awaited the regular session less than two months away.

Had there been hearings, someone could have pointed out that Donald Trump has probably already solved Connecticut’s housing crisis. A housing availability and affordability crisis can only exist when demand exceeds supply. At the most fundamental level, growth in demand for housing can only come from population growth. 

According to the Census Bureau, population growth in Connecticut has been non-existent, except for illegal immigration.  95,000 foreign-born immigrants have come to the state over the most recent four-year period for which data is available (while 24,000 citizens left the state). Natural growth has been zero, with births equaling deaths at 147,000.

Joe Biden’s open-border policy fueled foreign in-migration. Now, Donald Trump has closed the border, so the tide in Connecticut will reverse, swinging to population shrinkage based on outmigration of the 24,000 citizens.  Logically, housing demand will decline, solving any housing crisis.

Make no mistake, citizens will continue to leave. Why? Because the state’s economy is not growing. According to the Bureau of Economic Analysis, the state’s real economy grew at an anemic compound annual rate of 0.8% over the five-year period from 2019 to 2024; it grew only $2.9 billion, or 1.0%, from $283 billion in 2023 to $286 billion in 2024.

It was flat at $288 billion from the fourth quarter of 2024 through the first quarter of this year, only catching up and returning to trend with a $3 billion spurt in the second quarter.

Likely, the housing bill that super-majority Democrats rammed through the one-day special session will prove unnecessary, if not unworkable and harmful.....

Between the Lines: Email Governor Lamont here and ask him to veto this unnecessary small-town-killing bill.

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