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Rising Rents Are Pushing More Tenants Past the Breaking Point

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Re: Rising Rents Are Pushing More Tenants Past the Breaking Point

#251

Post by beager »

dba7dba wrote: post #210

Govt should adopt a policy of gradually increased property tax based on the number of housing units (or total assessed value of all housing property) one person/business owns. It should be to the point where one cannot use buying/selling/holding housing property as a way to amass wealth infinitely. Maybe to a certain point, but not to the extent allowed now. To me, holding a vast number of rental units and amassing a…

I'm under the impression that New York City does this. Effective property tax rates in the 5 boroughs are strikingly low contrasted with surrounding counties, but only for a certain number of units. After a certain number, your property tax notches up to a rate I believe is comparable to surrounding areas.

Not saying this particular policy ameliorates the issues you're talking about, just that a precedent for it exists in taxation policy in the US.

Re: Rising Rents Are Pushing More Tenants Past the Breaking Point

#252

Post by nikdaheratik »

akanet wrote: post #179
beebmam wrote: post #36

In large cities across the US (and probably most of the world), there is some very large scale foreign speculation in the housing market going on. This is leading to rising rents and rising home prices. In Seattle, for example, many (newly) wealthy Chinese people are buying houses purely for investment purposes. I know some of them. One of them has purchased 10 houses, and lives in only one of them (when they are in…

I sincerely doubt foreign purchases are the main driver of rent increase, and no study has ever demonstrated as much. The anti-foreigner mindset is extremely dangerous. Rising rents are almost entirely because of local restrictions on creating more housing. The beneficiaries of restricted supply are existing owners and landlords.

The real estate market is not like most other markets in that the turnover of "inventory" is very low. Any speculation, foreign or otherwise, can have a huge effect on the price. On top of that, you can't just create a new livable house or apartment out of thin air, so it takes time for the supply to catch up to demand even setting aside zoning and other considerations. Conversely, if everyone tries to leave a single market at the same time, the price can also drop very quickly relative to what they paid for it.

Rent is a strict substitute for buying property so the rental prices in most cases track the real estate prices fairly closely. In fact, rental prices tend to change much faster than property as rent can be raised every year while a mortgage doesn't necessarily change once the sale has been finalized.

Re: Rising Rents Are Pushing More Tenants Past the Breaking Point

#253

Post by nikdaheratik »

ryuker16 wrote: post #211
wan23 wrote: post #198

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not anti-foreigner, it's anti-speculation. It's easy to see that home purchase prices are well beyond what any reasonable family would want to pay, and yet the prices keep rising. The problem isn't that it's foreign money coming in, it's that there's so much of it.

If the zoning laws werent there, they would be building new buildings(like they currently do in china. Hence the term ghost cities) instead of investing in overpriced existing stock.

That's not always the case. In places like SF, the only way to build is up, which is expensive, requires alot of capital, and is risky by itself even if you don't have NIMBY people fighting it. In this case, Monopoly has it exactly right as far as the costs and values of putting a new hotel on Boardwalk vs. putting 4 hotels on Mediterranean Ave.

Re: Rising Rents Are Pushing More Tenants Past the Breaking Point

#254

Post by ryuker16 »

lend000 wrote: post #250
bitxbitxbitcoin wrote: post #248

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Exactly - it is a symptom of the different regulations in the different city centers.

Eh.. I saw it more as a symptom of humans breeding. Human population has always been bound by some constraint, and now it seems that shelter is more of a limiting factor than food supply, in western countries at least. That, and a cultural shift toward wanting to live in cities, even though many of these financially struggling millennials would do just fine financially in more distant suburbs.

It's restrictive zoning laws. Home and property owners have a zeal for politics unmatched when it comes to keeping values up.

The movement away from cities had a lot of reasons that have been solved(jobs came back, riots, red lining, less pollution, less crime) so I'd say the cultural shift was justified to return.

Commuting sucks too.

Re: Rising Rents Are Pushing More Tenants Past the Breaking Point

#255

Post by Bromskloss »

Don't rents simply reflect supply and demand? It seems unlikely that they would rise beyond the "breaking point" for _everyone_ or even most people.

Also, whenever someone is homeless, that's someone for whom the rents are above the breaking point.

Re: Rising Rents Are Pushing More Tenants Past the Breaking Point

#256

Post by revelation »

bmmayer1 wrote: post #224
logfromblammo wrote: post #150

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because the community has agreed to honor their exclusive real property claim, even if another person might have made better use of it . Property owners do occasionally have their property seized by the community that it may be used more appropriately to the community's desires. It may be by eminent domain, or civil forfeiture, or adverse possession, or by regulatory taking, or some other means, but it is more likely…

I'm having trouble understanding your comment. The entire principle of private property ownership on which (arguably) our entire civil society and economy is based is that one may use said property as one wishes. It doesn't really matter if another person might have made "better use of it". The only opinion that matters on how the property might best be used is the person who owns it. It's not a community decision, e…

Yes, if only history could stop in 1776. Then we can all make overarching general comments on how things are and will forever be. 240 years are a joke.

Re: Rising Rents Are Pushing More Tenants Past the Breaking Point

#257

Post by poorrights »

Bromskloss wrote: post #255

Don't rents simply reflect supply and demand? It seems unlikely that they would rise beyond the "breaking point" for _everyone_ or even most people. Also, whenever someone is homeless, that's someone for whom the rents are above the breaking point.

Just because enough people can pay $2,500 per month for a studio doesn’t mean the people who can’t deserve to be homeless.

Re: Rising Rents Are Pushing More Tenants Past the Breaking Point

#258

Post by poorrights »

Bromskloss wrote: post #255

Don't rents simply reflect supply and demand? It seems unlikely that they would rise beyond the "breaking point" for _everyone_ or even most people. Also, whenever someone is homeless, that's someone for whom the rents are above the breaking point.

And no, it isn’t just “simply supply and demand”. This has to be the most ad absurdum reductio I’ve ever read in my life.

Re: Rising Rents Are Pushing More Tenants Past the Breaking Point

#259

Post by njarboe »

webnrrd2k wrote: post #240
njarboe wrote: post #196

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It probably was the case 5 years ago that most homeless people in the US has some kind of mental problem. These people were almost all men and you would see them sleeping on the sidewalks or parks with almost nothing in the way of possessions. Now, at least in Oakland, there are tents everywhere. From single ones trying not to get noticed to tent cities with 10-50 tents all in one area. Many of these people have a pi…

I'm confused... Are you saying homelessness can't be a mental health issue because they now have tents? Or because they have possessions?

Not at all. I even stated directly that in the recent past most homeless people had mental health issues. Now added to this first group are people that just can't afford the rent and have been evicted or pushed onto the street.

Re: Rising Rents Are Pushing More Tenants Past the Breaking Point

#260

Post by Bromskloss »

poorrights wrote: post #257
Bromskloss wrote: post #255

Don't rents simply reflect supply and demand? It seems unlikely that they would rise beyond the "breaking point" for _everyone_ or even most people. Also, whenever someone is homeless, that's someone for whom the rents are above the breaking point.

Just because enough people can pay $2,500 per month for a studio doesn’t mean the people who can’t deserve to be homeless.

I say nothing about who deserves it.

I'm talking about the headline, which makes it sound like rents being past people's breaking point (0) is something that could happen to the population at large, and (1) hasn't always been the case for some.

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