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Nobody’s buying homes, nobody’s switching jobs, America’s mobility is stalling

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Re: Nobody’s buying homes, nobody’s switching jobs, America’s mobility is stalling

#71

Post by abnercoimbre »

khernandezrt wrote: post #58
donatj wrote: post #22

I've been casually job hunting for a couple months since rounds of layoffs started at my company. I've applied to umpteen places and haven't had a single callback. In my twenty+ years working as a dev, this is the worst I've seen it since about 2005.

I’m in the same boat. I’ve been employed since 2019, got laid off 3 weeks ago. I’ve applied to over 70 jobs and not a single has replied other than to reject me. This is brutal.

I'm sorry to hear that. I have close friends who are brilliant (and seniors) but spent 6-8 months finding a new job. Plan accordingly.

Re: Nobody’s buying homes, nobody’s switching jobs, America’s mobility is stalling

#72

Post by rpcope1 »

BobbyTables2 wrote: post #49
FiatLuxDave wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As far as I can tell, the problem isn't so much a lack of jobs or a lack of homes but rather that they aren't in the same place. In small town America, the problem isn't a lack of housing stock, it's that it is hard to afford it with few good paying jobs. In big city America, the problem isn't lack of jobs, it's that it is hard to find a job which pays enough for you to afford the limited housing stock. I think this…

Always hated how every startup sets up office in downtown San Francisco or similarly absurd cost of living area… Could pay people well but half as much and have nice office in Colorado mountains, Vermont, or somewhere else beautiful… Of course, startups rarely seem interested in saving money…

Most of the real estate "in the mountains" here in Colorado is basically SF prices, with a whole extra set of challenges. Even the front range I think has even worse home price to median income than a lot of the other places people think about when bitching about housing affordability.

Re: Nobody’s buying homes, nobody’s switching jobs, America’s mobility is stalling

#73

Post by totallykvothe »

Dig1t wrote: post #45
chao- wrote: post #30

It is difficult to balance the competing priorities of "home ownership is widely affordable" and "home prices must always go up". When the balance is not broadly possible, our system seems to favor "home prices must always go up", at least in the short term.

There are many places in the US where you can buy a house for less than 50k. If you want prices to drop in popular areas then we have to make it easy for people to actually build houses and increase supply in popular areas. Of course giving homeowners a say about whether housing is allowed to be built near them, of course they are going to vote against it because they have an incentive to keep prices high.

And add to that an unsupportable tax burden to disincentivize large firms buying up hundreds or thousands of homes and then renting them.

Re: Nobody’s buying homes, nobody’s switching jobs, America’s mobility is stalling

#74

Post by klooney »

toomuchtodo wrote: post #48
willis936 wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The housing market won't soften until we build a shit ton of houses which will never happen until there are a lot of very angry people willing it into existence.

I don’t think we’re ever going to build houses again at the rate we did before the 2008 GFC. A substantial portion of people who work in construction are undocumented (and will be targeted for deportation by this admin for the remains of their term), zoning remains a challenge, cost of materials continues to inflate. How many years would it take to get back up to speed? 5? 10? What does the economy look like then? Wi…

Supply and demand for labor will work itself out- prices will go up, companies will invest in efficiency, etc. People just need time to figure out the details, and the legal right to do the job.

Re: Nobody’s buying homes, nobody’s switching jobs, America’s mobility is stalling

#75

Post by [deleted] »

toomuchtodo wrote: post #43
simpaticoder wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wouldn't it be nice if individuals decided at the start of their career how much money was "enough" for them, and made a pledge to retire once they hit that number. Then society can give them an "I won!" hat or gold card or something, and the next guy can take the role. In this way all enterprises become an engine pulling new hires off the street, and emitting independently wealthy people to go and enjoy their lives.…

The drive to become that wealthy and powerful does not turn off. It’s a similar failure mode as a meth addict stripping a substation for copper. Neither persona can help themselves. > It's funny that our bodies have stomachs, so we know when we've eaten "enough". Humorously on topic, GLP-1s patch the reward center in your brain and say “enough is enough.” If only there was a similar protocol for wealth and power.

[deleted]

Re: Nobody’s buying homes, nobody’s switching jobs, America’s mobility is stalling

#76

Post by [deleted] »

clipsy wrote: post #65
eigen wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

median home price was 410k in 2025Q2 [1] so it may take most/all the net gains to purchase a median house. 1. https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/MSPUS

Complaining because you can "only" afford to buy a median house without needing a mortgage has to be one of the more shockingly out of touch things I've heard on this very out of touch site.

[deleted]

Re: Nobody’s buying homes, nobody’s switching jobs, America’s mobility is stalling

#77

Post by sqircles »

donatj wrote: post #22

I've been casually job hunting for a couple months since rounds of layoffs started at my company. I've applied to umpteen places and haven't had a single callback. In my twenty+ years working as a dev, this is the worst I've seen it since about 2005.

Recently went on the market after my employer of 16 years went to shit. Got lucky with a hybrid gig that is really WFH 98% of the time after 120 applications and 26 interviews spread out over 15 companies. It was a roller coaster that I do not recommend.

Re: Nobody’s buying homes, nobody’s switching jobs, America’s mobility is stalling

#78

Post by danans »

tennisflyi wrote: post #63
donatj wrote: post #22

I've been casually job hunting for a couple months since rounds of layoffs started at my company. I've applied to umpteen places and haven't had a single callback. In my twenty+ years working as a dev, this is the worst I've seen it since about 2005.

Good luck. Reddit job hunting(?) sub has it pegged at ~400 applications, IIRC

I'd caution from reading too much into numbers like this. 400 applications is borderline spamming, putting quantity over quality, which employers would notice.

It can be far fewer if you have a focus/specialty and specific industries that you target.

No doubt though, it's a slog right now. My recent process was around 10 applications - which became 3 interviews - and the last 2 were offers, one that came via a recruiter. Even this is a marked increase in difficulty vs 4 years ago.

Re: Nobody’s buying homes, nobody’s switching jobs, America’s mobility is stalling

#79

Post by sqircles »

khernandezrt wrote: post #58
donatj wrote: post #22

I've been casually job hunting for a couple months since rounds of layoffs started at my company. I've applied to umpteen places and haven't had a single callback. In my twenty+ years working as a dev, this is the worst I've seen it since about 2005.

I’m in the same boat. I’ve been employed since 2019, got laid off 3 weeks ago. I’ve applied to over 70 jobs and not a single has replied other than to reject me. This is brutal.

The thing that seemed to work best for me was reaching out to dev shops in my area and starting a conversation even if they didn't have a position posted. Go to meetups and talk to people, join their discord, etc... and job fairs, as lame as they seem, produced contacts for me that are still reaching out "just in case" even though I found a position eventually.

What's old is new again. Get those soft skills warmed up and go out and shake hands.

Re: Nobody’s buying homes, nobody’s switching jobs, America’s mobility is stalling

#80

Post by sqircles »

hibikir wrote: post #41
Esophagus4 wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think if you believed 7-8% loans were normal, you might be more likely to bite the bullet and make your move. But if you believe 3-4% is normal, then you’re probably waiting for rates to return to “normal.” I think it’s a side effect of years of low interest rates… people are conditioned now to believe low is normal, and they want to hang on until we get back to that. I was hoping rates would stay “high” for a whil…

It's the other way around. If you think 3% is normal, you buy now and refinance while people think that the house is unaffordable. Remember that lower interest rates make home prices go even higher! If you think it will stay at 7%, that 3% loan you already have is a treasure to keep using for a decade or two.

At 2.25% I'm not sure it will ever make financial sense for me to move. Upsides and downsides to that.
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