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A record number of Americans can't afford rent

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Re: A record number of Americans can't afford rent

#31

Post by lukas099 »

EA-3167 wrote: post #27
nox101 wrote: post #16

In LA there are tons of "co-living" spaces where they're basically renting out bedrooms for $2500-$4000 a month! It's the similar to living with roommates except each roommate has their own lease and you have no choice in who becomes your roommate. I don't know any actual stats, only that in searching for an apartment they came up a lot in searches and I assumed it was partly to make more money (a 3br apartment with…

This is inevitable when vast numbers of people all want to live as close to the centers of a handful of major cities as they can. You either build megacities, let the market dictate who can afford to live there, or maybe start seriously realizing that from an economic and environmental point of view... maybe remote work is the solution.

I'm not convinced remote work is better than the market solution from an environmental point of view. Seems like having people as densely concentrated as they can be is best from an environmental standpoint.

Remote is definitely better than the status quo of subsidized suburbs housing car commuters though.

Re: A record number of Americans can't afford rent

#32

Post by gottorf »

cglan wrote: post #25

This is basically the late stage of us continually not building enough housing for years and years. I'm not sure how anyone thought this would turn out differently. As long as housing is an "investment", which in turn means that people lock up big portions of their net worth into housing, and then vote against policies that would make housing cheaper (it's the rational thing to do) then this will be the outcome. Just…

> This is basically the late stage of us continually not building enough housing for years and years. I'm not sure how anyone thought this would turn out differently.

Absolutely! Build more housing, at any price level[0], and rents will stop growing and maybe even come down.

[0]: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4629628

Re: A record number of Americans can't afford rent

#33

Post by darkwizard42 »

Looking to learn more on the subject, but why isn't it in the interest of any city these days to NOT build more housing?

They are almost perfectly incentivized to attract working young people and families to help increase their tax base (property tax, income tax, sales tax) and housing would help them do that. Given most large cities are facing huge financial deficits, wouldn't this make sense?

(Yes, I'm aware of regulatory capture and the inefficiency of local government, but shouldn't there be SOME common sense?)

Re: A record number of Americans can't afford rent

#35

Post by darkwizard42 »

tmnvix wrote: post #22
causi wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's something very gross about owning a home you don't live it.

In the past, owning a 'second' or 'holiday' home was an expensive proposition - it actually cost you money. For some time now - because of rapid capital gains and the short term rental market - it makes you money. Many more people are willing and able to do it.

Actually, this seems to be largely an American problem. In Europe, Canada, and Mexico (at least just these areas I'm familiar with), it was common to have a cottage or small home in a faraway part of the "countryside" as a mini-vacation home. Definitely wasn't accessible to everyone, but was FAR from the level of wealth needed in America to operate a "second-home"

Re: A record number of Americans can't afford rent

#36

Post by waqf »

tootie wrote: post #23

Idk why this is such a mysterious or unexpected thing. Housing construction crashed through the earth following the subprime crisis and the deficit in available housing has not yet recovered. Prices are up due almost entirely to supply and demand. Current pace indicates the problem will probably sort itself out in a few years barring any further disaster. Some YIMBYism could speed it up. https://www.axios.com/2023/12…

I assume you're referring to the graph on the page you linked. Is there an explanation somewhere of exactly how it is calculated?

I tried to read the "article" underneath the graph but it just seems to be a disjointed collection of assertions strung together with inappropriate connectives and insane formatting.

Re: A record number of Americans can't afford rent

#37

Post by paulgb »

throwll202402 wrote: post #28
blackt0wer wrote: post #4

It is worth pointing out that those who cannot afford rent often will not subsidize their situation by renting out extra space and taking on roommates, but instead suffer in isolation living alone. This false premise that "living alone" is some sort of social achievement needs to end.

> It is worth pointing out that those who cannot afford rent often will not subsidize their situation by renting out extra space and taking on roommates small unit ( will say that "cannot afford" does not really come up for me anymore. I will not rent <650 credit score, good savings, income ratio, recommendations, work etc. tenant protections are so strong and courts so backed up now its just wildly expensive to get…

> I will not rent This speaks to a fear of mine, which is that laws meant to protect tenants end up backfiring against tenants because they reduce the pool of landlords willing to rent to them. E.g. from the article:

> At the state level, Colorado lawmakers have proposed a bill to limit the reasons for which a landlord can evict a tenant.

(fwiw I am not blaming you -- you're not running a charity. Just pointing out the tension between what lawmakers are attempting and the cold reality of the situation.)

Re: A record number of Americans can't afford rent

#38

Post by gcgbcfy »

cglan wrote: post #25

This is basically the late stage of us continually not building enough housing for years and years. I'm not sure how anyone thought this would turn out differently. As long as housing is an "investment", which in turn means that people lock up big portions of their net worth into housing, and then vote against policies that would make housing cheaper (it's the rational thing to do) then this will be the outcome. Just…

This has been disproven so many times. There’s more vacant homes in the US than homeless people. But homes == money. As someone who is a real estate investor, it’s no secret, we are jacking up the prices. It’s what we do for a living.
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