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U.S. home prices are the most unaffordable they've been in nearly 100 years

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121–130 of 246 posts

Re: U.S. home prices are the most unaffordable they've been in nearly 100 years

#121

This is to be expected. Sellers are always reluctant to be reasonable when they are on the wrong side of a peak. The raising of interest rates means prices have to adjust. But after so many years of increasing prices sellers are not yet rational. And yes, some more inventory would help. That said, as the population ages, who is going to buy all the McMansions? Price not only need to adjust to interest rate but demogr…

> That said, as the population ages

The US population is projected to continue growing throughout most of the 21st century.

If you're waiting for people to die so you can afford real estate, you'll be waiting a long time.

Re: U.S. home prices are the most unaffordable they've been in nearly 100 years

#122

It's all just a game looking at the charts until the real estate "investment" companies are invaded by thousands of homeless people and the CEOs executed. Are people just supposed to not live anywhere? How long will this last? Just learn from history.

Don't fall for the socialism anti-landlord brainrot. People have plenty of places to live. This is more about the fact that people want to have the same financial opportunity to own a house. It sucks that the older generation had an opportunity to buy a house that has risen in value, with an area that got gentrified with more stuff around them, and were able to refinance during Covid at like 2-3%, while the younger g…

> Don't fall for the socialism anti-landlord brainrot.

Then how do you explain the massive number of evictions and hockey-stick rise in rent prices from 2010-2020 without blaming greedy landlords?

"Oopsie doopsie rents fell up?"

Re: U.S. home prices are the most unaffordable they've been in nearly 100 years

#123
post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So in those 7 decades there has been build 175 million houses. Population of usa is around 350 million. Most people probsbly also not living alone and some houses that were build before 1950 probsbly still are in use just maybe modernized. Not familiar with USA market but wondering: Are current houses just more fragile and fell apart within 50 years?

How many of those homes are second/third homes? There are a lot of old abandoned homes. I would never live in a home built before 1978. Almost certainly that home is full of lead-based paint and asbestos.

>I would never live in a home built before 1978. Almost certainly that home is full of lead-based paint and asbestos.

We're closing in on 50 years past the 1979 lead-based paint cutoff - the vast majority of homes in my area, and I extrapolate that likely most areas, have been remediated. With asbestos - probably the worst issue in my area is that if you have asbestos shingles you want to remove they are stinking heavy and so cost a lot to dump. I live in a 1915 home that is a great example of houses in my area - has gone through multiple renovations in that time such that the guts are fundamentally new. Probably the biggest issue with these older homes is insulation, as unless you truly take them down to the studs, they are never going to be as airtight as modern homes.

Re: U.S. home prices are the most unaffordable they've been in nearly 100 years

#124
When I first looked at this graph, I did not have much emotional reaction.

When you look closer, each unit on the axis represents 1 year of a person's income. Each line on that graph represents 2000 hours of life toiling for a basic living necessity.

Outrageous.

Re: U.S. home prices are the most unaffordable they've been in nearly 100 years

#125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> People have plenty of places to live. Actually, there is a 6.5 million home shortage in the places that people actually live ( https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/08/homes/housing-shortage/index.... ). That shortage has nothing to do with landlords, though, and everything to do with shitty zoning and with constructing new homes being incredibly slow and burdensome in most big US cities.

Oh right my bad. People MUST live in a house, I completely forgot thats a law in US.

Note that "home" ≠ "house". Gp said "home", which is correct, and your response is a non sequitur.

Re: U.S. home prices are the most unaffordable they've been in nearly 100 years

#126
post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The forces that drove prices are over. Low interest rates, and low productivity due to COVID-19. As interest rates rise people will no be able to afford their mortgages. Prices will fall in response.

In my HCOL area we are already seeing prices nosedive after they sit on the market for a few months. The discounts are around 15% off peak, and this is just the start.

And this will result in prices rising or remaining flat in MCOL areas.

Re: U.S. home prices are the most unaffordable they've been in nearly 100 years

#127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We don't know if that is the primary cause though. The US population was growing at a quicker rate for much of it's history, and that population was more rural, and a number of other reasons we can't rely solely on historical data for our predictions of current behavior. With a closer to zero population growth rate and a more urbanized population we would expect there to be fewer houses built. Additionally, the pure…

Just look at the data: https://tradingeconomics.com/united-states/housing-starts Additional supply did come on, and has dropped recently in response to rates. It's really not more than high school supply/demand. There are just a good number of factors which make up each at each location, and at least one of them is large and unpredictable (interest rates). There is always a lag on the supply side because only so many…

I think that's what the person above you meant as well, that prices being high due to a lack of supply is not controversial nor is it very interesting.

Re: U.S. home prices are the most unaffordable they've been in nearly 100 years

#128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm asking specifically what insulation product they are referring to because I'm unaware of any product that fits that description.

In my case, the insulation was mostly just air. There is zero insulation at all in my garage in a place with harsh winters and there is no insulation between my garage and the house. My attic also did not have insulation, but that one was cheaper and easier to resolve than all the wall cavities.

Have you checked what the building code in the area requires? If the builder was negligent and you're they first owner they may be liable.

Re: U.S. home prices are the most unaffordable they've been in nearly 100 years

#129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You don’t have a choice in some areas, like the south SF bay (unless you are a multimillionaire). The sources of asbestos are well known and they can be removed cleanly and safely, and lead paint should have been painted over by now with more than a few coats of modern paint — which you can safely touch and lick, if you like.

Just remember to explain to your 2-year-old not to put any of the chips or flakes in their mouth and it's all good.

Presumably you’d baby proof your home and would address any spots where the paint is flaking or chipping off the wall. Especially if you knew it was an older home.

Honestly unless the lead paint is the topmost layer, or they put so many coats of regular paint on that it’s falling off the wall, the actual risk of a toddler encountering and then consuming the paint chips is shockingly low.

Re: U.S. home prices are the most unaffordable they've been in nearly 100 years

#130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oh right my bad. People MUST live in a house, I completely forgot thats a law in US.

Note that "home" ≠ "house". Gp said "home", which is correct, and your response is a non sequitur.

Gp said home but the article he links to is talking about houses.
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