Mission affordable housing advocates are going to want to take a new report from the city's chief economist that says the proposed moratorium on market-rate housing isn't going to do anything to stem evictions or gentrification or get new below-market housing built. But that is what it says.

The report was requested in May by Supervisors Wiener and Farrell, who both disagree with the proposed moratorium, and it serves to back up their views.

As the Business Times reports, almost gleefully, Ted Egan of San Francisco’s Office of Economic Analysis says that such a pause will not likely help get more affordable sites located or slow the tide of market-rate housing in the neighborhood. Says Egan, "A temporary moratorium would lead to slightly higher housing prices across the city, have no appreciable effect on no-fault eviction pressures and have a limited impact on the city's ability to produce affordable housing during the moratorium period."

The contentious debate over the proposed 18- to 30-month moratorium on planning approvals for market-rate housing in the Mission will no doubt continue until the November election, at which point the slim number of voters who come out to vote in a non-federal election with a Mayor running virtually unopposed will decide the issue.

The Examiner spoke to Supervisor David Campos, who sponsored the initial moratorium legislation, and he says the report "misses the mark," and adds, "Without a pause, you have a market that will not allow a city agency to be competitive for the purpose of affordable housing.”

Egan's report acknowledges the steep decline in the neighborhood's Latino population since 2000, however it asserts that even an indefinite moratorium on market-rate housing would only stem that outflow somewhat.

Previously: 'Beast On Bryant' Gets Stalled After Community Pushback