Theres not actually a lack of affordable housing (at least not in the
South), or affordable housing being built, theres skyrocketing housing costs in what were once affordable houses. When growth is slow and steady (rather than skyrocketing and out of control), housing remains closer to affordable. Theres already been one real estate bubble that burst in recent
history, the same people behind the bubble are the ones
talking about a lack of affordable housing. People move to the South because its affordable, where the cost of living was high on the West Coast or up North.
When housing costs
aren't skyrocketing, more pople can afford them,
thus there is not a shortage of affordable housing. It's as simple as the dollar signs the people playing the real estate market envision to
understand.