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The average age of U.S. homebuyers jumps to 56

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Re: The average age of U.S. homebuyers jumps to 56

#81
post #7

Well that’s what happens when you frame housing as an investment. If it didn’t outpace the market and the consumer inflation rate, it wouldn’t be a good investment. So by definition it must become unaffordable for the masses. No great way out of this mess.

There are a few things that could be done to remove the artificial advantage of (primary) residential property: - remove the exemption (or reduction) for Capital Gains Tax - remove Income Tax relief for mortgage interest - remove any exemption (or reduction) for Inheritance Tax Not all these advantages exist in all jurisdictions. Then there are other changes that could mitigate distortions, inequality and volatility:…

>- separate interest rates for residential mortgages, commercial property, consumption and productive investments (industry, infrastructure, education)

How do you propose to do that? If I have money to lend, I'm pretty sure I'll lend it wherever I like the return I get. So interest rates are all related to each other - they should be risk-adjusted equal, because the lenders don't care about anything else.

Re: The average age of U.S. homebuyers jumps to 56

#82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are a few things that could be done to remove the artificial advantage of (primary) residential property: - remove the exemption (or reduction) for Capital Gains Tax - remove Income Tax relief for mortgage interest - remove any exemption (or reduction) for Inheritance Tax Not all these advantages exist in all jurisdictions. Then there are other changes that could mitigate distortions, inequality and volatility:…

>- separate interest rates for residential mortgages, commercial property, consumption and productive investments (industry, infrastructure, education) How do you propose to do that? If I have money to lend, I'm pretty sure I'll lend it wherever I like the return I get. So interest rates are all related to each other - they should be risk-adjusted equal, because the lenders don't care about anything else.

Separate rates already exist. Try buying an investment property and you'll see the rate is higher because there is more risk to the lender.

Re: The average age of U.S. homebuyers jumps to 56

#83
post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>- separate interest rates for residential mortgages, commercial property, consumption and productive investments (industry, infrastructure, education) How do you propose to do that? If I have money to lend, I'm pretty sure I'll lend it wherever I like the return I get. So interest rates are all related to each other - they should be risk-adjusted equal, because the lenders don't care about anything else.

Separate rates already exist. Try buying an investment property and you'll see the rate is higher because there is more risk to the lender.

I said "risk adjusted", so I think you're agreeing with me.

Re: The average age of U.S. homebuyers jumps to 56

#84

I thought I would have a house in my 20s. Then I thought maybe by the time I was in my 30s. Now I’m in my 30s and I have no idea when I’ll buy a house, if ever.

> Now I’m in my 30s and I have no idea when I’ll buy a house, if ever.

This might not be what you want to do, or hear; I know it wasn't what I wanted in my late 20s. But you could own a house within a year or so if you decide you want a house more than living in an expensive area.

I spent my 20s banging my head against an impossibly expensive area trying to find something and perpetually failing (in my case, NYC). In my late 20s I gave up, moved to a very suburban (borderline rural) area and bought a house right away.

Re: The average age of U.S. homebuyers jumps to 56

#85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Jeff Bezos owning 10% of Amazon really has nothing to do with the massive issue of entrenched institutional NIMBYism. San Francisco built 74 new units of housing last year. Not 74,000. Seventy four. We could kill all billionaires and housing would not get cheaper in a world like that.

Exactly: the billionaires aren't the problem here, it's the middle-class NIMBY homeowners who refuse to allow any new construction near them.

Middle-class NIMBY homeowners have literally zero meaningful input into zoning and permitting processes. At the absolute peak of their power they can show up to public hearings and whinge into a microphone for 3 minutes, an activity that planning boards and city councils around the country are perfectly happy to ignore.

Re: The average age of U.S. homebuyers jumps to 56

#86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are a few things that could be done to remove the artificial advantage of (primary) residential property: - remove the exemption (or reduction) for Capital Gains Tax - remove Income Tax relief for mortgage interest - remove any exemption (or reduction) for Inheritance Tax Not all these advantages exist in all jurisdictions. Then there are other changes that could mitigate distortions, inequality and volatility:…

>- separate interest rates for residential mortgages, commercial property, consumption and productive investments (industry, infrastructure, education) How do you propose to do that? If I have money to lend, I'm pretty sure I'll lend it wherever I like the return I get. So interest rates are all related to each other - they should be risk-adjusted equal, because the lenders don't care about anything else.

Separate rates and markets already exist. Commercial property is a totally different market than residential, and agricultural is yet another market. Investment into residential is different than primary residence in origination rules and pricing.

Re: The average age of U.S. homebuyers jumps to 56

#87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is what boomers actually believe in.

It's gonna be 16 years in February that I've been a financial coach and I've helped literally hundreds of people at all income levels and backgrounds achieve their financial goals. What I said is the truth and my clients can attest to that.

> It's gonna be 16 years in February that I've been a financial coach

You mentioned doing this as a side gig? If you could give a few pointers to info on how you got started? Sometimes I think it would be rewarding to do something like this at a low-cost or volunteer basis for people who need help.

Re: The average age of U.S. homebuyers jumps to 56

#88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Mortality fixes generational issues

Are you aware of the vast disparity of wealth among American families? On the order of 100k for white families, 10k for black families. Wealth being passed down family trees ensures immigrants and people who are worse off now will remain priced out. https://www.brookings.edu/articles/black-wealth-is-increasin...

Inheritance rarely survives past the third generation, it's not really part of the problem.

Re: The average age of U.S. homebuyers jumps to 56

#89
post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My understanding is that japanese houses are fundamentally different in that they are designed to be expendable in the long term, similar to cars. You don't buy a high quality house that you maintain, you buy or build a new house and then tear it down a few decades later.

Aren't US houses the same effectively? - Not necessarily in that they aren't built to last, but that they'll be rebuilt regardless in a couple decades.

The vast majority of houses aren't rebuilt with any regularity in the US. The extreme high-end McMansions are commonly rebuilt, but that's an outlier. Much of the affordable housing is the luxury apartments of 40-80 years ago.

Re: The average age of U.S. homebuyers jumps to 56

#90

I do financial coaching as a side business and I can tell you the main two reason why most people in their 30s can't afford a home is because they have no idea how to budget and they carry too much debt spent on things they don't need. On average people spend about 30% of their income paying off non mortgage debts like credit cards, car loans, and student loans. I teach my clients how to budget, cut back on unnecessa…

This is what boomers actually believe in.

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