Revisions to Housing Ward Classifications

[SeiyaSoiya]

if they were so convinced that the demand for FC houses far, far surpassed demand for private houses and that that demand would be high over the course of an expansion, why did they suddenly change their mind and slash FC wards by half?

[Jojoya]

if they were so convinced that the demand for FC houses far, far surpassed demand for private houses and that that demand would be high over the course of an expansion, why did they suddenly change their mind and slash FC wards by half?

Because it was never about them believing that the demand for FC houses was that high.

It was making certain that FCs were able to secure houses before individual buyers stripped the supply out of the game.

That's why they're still leaving wards 1-9 set aside for FCs. They're continuing to make certain FCs working toward getting a house will still have available plots to choose from when they're ready. The new ward distribution will be fairly close to what the FC to personal house ratio has been (new ward distribution 37% FC, historical distribution roughly 30% FC).

No doubt our good buddy Oliver-NotOliver-Yshtola-MEW will be updating their housing statistics website soon after the ward change with new information about house distribution.