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Will real estate ever be normal again?

nytimes.com

11–20 of 620 posts

Re: Will real estate ever be normal again?

#11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why don't you move to a cheaper place/smaller city? I don't understand why there are some many homeless people in big cities (i.e NYC). If people would just move to cheaper areas/cities the whole issue of housing would be fixed.

My community is here. How is it just that I be forced into exile because “the market” says so? I’ve done no wrong.

I see your point. However, isn't it still preferable to have a home and leave your community, then to have the community but be on the street?

I personally would prefer moving to homelessness, many times over, even though I wouldn't say it was fair/desirable/justice that I needed to.

Re: Will real estate ever be normal again?

#12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why don't you move to a cheaper place/smaller city? I don't understand why there are some many homeless people in big cities (i.e NYC). If people would just move to cheaper areas/cities the whole issue of housing would be fixed.

My community is here. How is it just that I be forced into exile because “the market” says so? I’ve done no wrong.

[deleted]

Re: Will real estate ever be normal again?

#13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why don't you move to a cheaper place/smaller city? I don't understand why there are some many homeless people in big cities (i.e NYC). If people would just move to cheaper areas/cities the whole issue of housing would be fixed.

My community is here. How is it just that I be forced into exile because “the market” says so? I’ve done no wrong.

The curse of mobility I guess: people can move in if they want, bid up prices, which can force out those who were there before. The only solutions are to either eliminate/reduce mobility or move housing out from market influences.

Re: Will real estate ever be normal again?

#14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why don't you move to a cheaper place/smaller city? I don't understand why there are some many homeless people in big cities (i.e NYC). If people would just move to cheaper areas/cities the whole issue of housing would be fixed.

My community is here. How is it just that I be forced into exile because “the market” says so? I’ve done no wrong.

I think ppl in your position should either follow the community, and obtain higher pay or relocate in area with people that align with your values.

If working 60 hour weeks or reskilling isn’t your cup of tea, that’s fine but we can’t keep everything the same forever.

Re: Will real estate ever be normal again?

#15
"Normal" is meaningless. Markets are always changing. This market will also change. Maybe increasing impact of work from home and empty office buildings will do it in the near term.

Maybe baby boomers downsizing, moving into homes, and dying will do it in the long term.

Maybe there will be runaway inflation and the fed will bring in and crippling interest rates that cause a deep recession in the short term.

But the future market won't be what it is today. The same shortsightedness that wasn't able to foresee the impact of millennials will fail to see what comes next.

The demographic impact of the millennial generation was a big topic of discussion in the late 90s and early 2000s. Since then the discussion has gotten a lot stupider focusing on pop culture stereotypes. A large group of people passing through life stages at the same time are going to have an impact.

Re: Will real estate ever be normal again?

#16

Renters and buyers are increasingly in the same boat - the one where people with money in the bank are finding there's nowhere to live. In the case of renters, many with savings are facing homelessness - once those savings are burned up on hotels. This isn't a dramatization or overstatement. It's what I'm witnessing personally and very nearly happened to us. We were one of the few to beat long odds and score a place…

Why don't you move to a cheaper place/smaller city? I don't understand why there are some many homeless people in big cities (i.e NYC). If people would just move to cheaper areas/cities the whole issue of housing would be fixed.

A lot of times, one's proximity to work, friends, family has a non-trivial cost associated with it. Not everyone can be mobile. That said, the other side of the coin with regard to homelessness - some fall in the above; some follow to where the services/ease of access to one's vice/tolerance (also known as compassion) is.

With regard to moving to a smaller town. The median income in the county in CA I live in is ~40k/year. The average house price has essentially doubled in the last 5ish years. Income, hasn't changed so much. I bought my place ~5.5 years ago and it's basically doubled and is a condo. Same issues around a lack of affordable housing in this rural mountain red county is mirrored by some of the bay area counties I moved from.

Re: Will real estate ever be normal again?

#17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My community is here. How is it just that I be forced into exile because “the market” says so? I’ve done no wrong.

I see your point. However, isn't it still preferable to have a home and leave your community, then to have the community but be on the street? I personally would prefer moving to homelessness, many times over, even though I wouldn't say it was fair/desirable/justice that I needed to.

The choice of location is rarely as clear cut or stark as the choice between simply community vs homelessness.

For many people, the choice of location involves weighing many competing and hard-to-quantify intangibles and opportunity costs.

Re: Will real estate ever be normal again?

#18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why don't you move to a cheaper place/smaller city? I don't understand why there are some many homeless people in big cities (i.e NYC). If people would just move to cheaper areas/cities the whole issue of housing would be fixed.

My community is here. How is it just that I be forced into exile because “the market” says so? I’ve done no wrong.

Sorry. You’re going to have to move. Owning is for investors, banks, and other financial entities. /s

The best part is that if things go upside down in a few years we get to bail them out.

Re: Will real estate ever be normal again?

#19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why don't you move to a cheaper place/smaller city? I don't understand why there are some many homeless people in big cities (i.e NYC). If people would just move to cheaper areas/cities the whole issue of housing would be fixed.

My community is here. How is it just that I be forced into exile because “the market” says so? I’ve done no wrong.

I think there's definite limits to that. Like you can't expect to forever stay in Amsterdam center because you happen to live there now. Loads of others want your place and can contribute more. But it's not always the case. For example the outskirts of said city are deliberately underdeveloped because the zoning designation says so which is entirely a political choice to expel the poor.

Re: Will real estate ever be normal again?

#20
post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My community is here. How is it just that I be forced into exile because “the market” says so? I’ve done no wrong.

I think ppl in your position should either follow the community, and obtain higher pay or relocate in area with people that align with your values. If working 60 hour weeks or reskilling isn’t your cup of tea, that’s fine but we can’t keep everything the same forever.

I don't think it's fair to put the onus on individual people to move everytime they're priced out of a market, especially a market that has been heavily manipulated to benefit the few via lower interest rates and poor zoning laws.

You could see this housing crisis coming from years out and the government did nothing but maintain low rates, block multi-unit zoning changes, and allow the wealthy and foreign investors to buy up housing.

The real issue is poor and inept leadership.

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