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

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

#231

Post by jiggywiggy »

superkuh wrote: post #10

From 1950 to 2008 the USA built ~25 million homes per (edit, not year) decade. From 2008 to 2018 it was about 7 million. In recent years building rates have mostly recovered but there's still that gap in production combined with everything else the last handful of years. This isn't to discount the shift of ownership from human persons to corporate persons, that's a factor too. But just numbers of available houses ver…

Hmmm it might not have anything with to do with the massive money printing and forced low interest rates of the last decades...?

Its not only the us dealing with this.

In many Western countries a large part of the population has been incentivised by both tax cuts and monetary policy to own property that it's become very hard for governments to change those policies to again make houses affordable without huge cuts of the wealth of their middle-class.

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

#232

Post by bbradley406 »

testrtt3222 wrote: post #71
bobthepanda wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

location, location, location. Much of the housing price increase has occurred in areas that are doing well economically, but have more or less maxed out the building density currently legally allowed by zoning. today you could build so many houses in Detroit and yet that wouldn't really ease the housing crisis in a place like the Bay. there is also, at least anecdotally, a shortage of skilled tradespeople across cons…

Yep I agree that a large contributing factor in all of this has to do with location. The shortage of skilled labor is another instance where we need to ask why supply is not meeting demand. I think in the case of the supply of skilled construction workers it is not difficult to come up with a plausible explanation that doesn't require any malicious actors. Anyway, I'm not really trying to make a political point or gi…

Wages for construction workers have not kept up with inflation, much like other fields. Unless you're a Master - tier specialist in your field, you will probably be making at best $15/hr to $25/hr with minimal (if any) benefits.

There's simply few reasons to enter the field and risk long term health issues when you can make the same amount, or better doing paperwork in an office.

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

#233

Post by vkou »

bagels wrote: post #186
ChancyChance wrote: post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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?"

Property taxes went up, materials and labor for maintenance went up, and if you bought your rental property during that time, prices were going up, each increasing the costs for many landlords.

What about the landlords that bought property twenty years ago, when prices weren't going up? What's their excuse?

---

Their excuse is that they, as landlords, will charge as much for rent as they get away with, regardless of what their expenses may or may not be. Two identical apartments, owned by two different landlords, one of which costs its owner ~$1000/month, and the other ~$1,500/month will both be rented out for essentially the same price.

There's no need to spill ink on moralizing and justifying why rent's going up. It's going up because you (or someone else) has the money to pay for it to go up, and because you have limited alternatives.

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

#234

Post by poulsbohemian »

parineum wrote: post #155
poulsbohemian wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Are current houses just more fragile and fell apart within 50 years? Obsolescence gets overlooked but it is important. Not only are houses often poorly constructed, but many are simply no longer desirable. For example in my area, anything pre-1960 is likely very small, possibly without a garage, and may only have one bathroom. The modern homeowner wants something better. Houses in the 1970s were frankly, weird. They…

> Not only are houses often poorly constructed You have no idea what you're talking about. Houses are built to standards significantly higher than they used to be (aka, with standards). Contractors skimp where they can but, due to threats of litigation, those cut corners are cosmetics.

Dude - I work in real estate, I know exactly what I’m talking about. I can take you to housing developments in my area built maybe 25 years ago that are falling the fuck apart. Hell - my ex-wife lives in a rental house less than ten years old that already needs real work. Are standards for electrical, insulation, etc higher? Absolutely yes. But don’t you go telling me I don’t know what I’m talking asking about, especially when you are misconstruing what I wrote.

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

#235

Post by chiefalchemist »

havblue wrote: post #225
tstrimple wrote: post #220

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Every bathroom was finished with normal drywall instead of the water resistant stuff. The vents in the upstairs bathrooms just vented into the attic space leading to moisture issues in up there. There must also be an issue with either the framing or the foundation because we have the ceiling separating from the drywall in almost every room in the house in addition to cracks developing in the drywall. I know some amou…

Thanks for sharing, I'm sorry to hear about all the problems you're having. I think a major issue is just water being the root of all evil for house problems and the bigger your house is, the more recent it was built, the more corners were cut. It's all compounded by contractors wanting to overcharge you if you're in an expensive neighborhood and not give you the time of day otherwise. It's like you could just say, "…

Agreed. But I'd like to perhaps interpret it a slightly different way. What if house construction was "branded". That is, aside from (possibly uninforced) local standards a company built homes AND committed to their quality.

Given how sloppy new home construction has become, perhaps buyers would trade less home for say 10 years of peace of mind? I realize long term guarantees are tough. Obviously. Nonetheless, the current shit-show seems to be begging for alternatives.

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

#236

Post by throwaway1777 »

NDizzle wrote: post #142
angmarsbane wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Divorces, deaths in the family, growth in the family, people move to be close to certain hospitals / schools etc. Maybe one half of a marriage gets a remote role but the other doesn’t.

With remote roles you no longer need two income households. Raise your kids yourself. That statement will get me downvoted, but if even one person is inspired to think that through it’s plenty worthwhile.

Not with how expensive it is in every metro now

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

#237

Post by tstrimple »

chiefalchemist wrote: post #235
havblue wrote: post #225

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks for sharing, I'm sorry to hear about all the problems you're having. I think a major issue is just water being the root of all evil for house problems and the bigger your house is, the more recent it was built, the more corners were cut. It's all compounded by contractors wanting to overcharge you if you're in an expensive neighborhood and not give you the time of day otherwise. It's like you could just say, "…

Agreed. But I'd like to perhaps interpret it a slightly different way. What if house construction was "branded". That is, aside from (possibly uninforced) local standards a company built homes AND committed to their quality. Given how sloppy new home construction has become, perhaps buyers would trade less home for say 10 years of peace of mind? I realize long term guarantees are tough. Obviously. Nonetheless, the cu…

Home warranties were fairly common when purchasing. They are meant to cover things you don't find right away during the inspection. Unfortunately market forces, especially lately, have made these less available for purchasers as competition for houses is too high.

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

#238

Post by NDizzle »

throwaway1777 wrote: post #236
NDizzle wrote: post #142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

With remote roles you no longer need two income households. Raise your kids yourself. That statement will get me downvoted, but if even one person is inspired to think that through it’s plenty worthwhile.

Not with how expensive it is in every metro now

Metro? Remote?! Get out of cities with your remote job.

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

#239

Post by ec109685 »

NDizzle wrote: post #134
ec109685 wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sitting on a home with 2-3% interest is all well and good, until the value drops and you’re sitting on a much worse asset. I.e. if you own a second home with a 3% interest rate, should you sell now or collect rent on it?

If you have a second home at 3% that means your first home is paid off. You wouldn’t get that rate for an income property. There are several good reasons for selling it, mostly emergency or retirement reasons. I would keep it and rent it. Inflation is more than double that 3%, “officially”. What a great problem to have. Anecdotal data, regarding value drops. I’m in a 30 fixed at 3% in Arkansas. Houses I was looking a…

Good advice. In our particular case, we bought a new home and are letting family member stay at old one, so have two mortgages.

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

#240

Post by parineum »

poulsbohemian wrote: post #234
parineum wrote: post #155

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Not only are houses often poorly constructed You have no idea what you're talking about. Houses are built to standards significantly higher than they used to be (aka, with standards). Contractors skimp where they can but, due to threats of litigation, those cut corners are cosmetics.

Dude - I work in real estate, I know exactly what I’m talking about. I can take you to housing developments in my area built maybe 25 years ago that are falling the fuck apart. Hell - my ex-wife lives in a rental house less than ten years old that already needs real work. Are standards for electrical, insulation, etc higher? Absolutely yes. But don’t you go telling me I don’t know what I’m talking asking about, espec…

And I worked in construction.
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