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For everything prices per unit are decreasing in time, from cars to computers, while housing costs the same percentage of income and that is considered a good t

For everything prices per unit are decreasing in time, from cars to computers, while housing costs the same percentage of income and that is considered a good thing? Not in my world, there is no productivity increase reflected in cost reductions? Are houses increasing the cost due to increases in features? For this year or this century, housing prices are economically absurd, unless they are seen as a "pay as much as you can afford" type of product and this indicates a supplier market that can be fixed by drastically increasing supply. In a country that deregulated as USA, housing regulations are among the most strict in the world. Is it a surprise costs are very high?

UncleEntity 7y ago
"They" do everything they can to keep house prices from falling because of the expectation that houses keep increasing in value and are a good investment for your average citizen. Anything short of steadily increasing prices and people tend to lose their cushy government jobs.
zeroonetwothree 7y ago
Logically prices for everything cannot fall. If one price goes down that means another has to go up.
- neffy 7y ago
  Or supply increases - and then as supply goes to infinity prices go to zero.
harryh 7y ago
Are houses increasing the cost due to increases in features? Yes. http://www.aei.org/publication/new-us-homes-today-are-1000-square-feet-larger-than-in-1973-and-living-space-per-person-has-nearly-doubled/ http://www.aei.org/publication/new-us-homes-today-are-1000-s...
Zanni 7y ago
> Are houses increasing cost due to increase in features? Yes. The limited resource is land, so to maximize profit, developers either have to pack in more units (a strategy often restricted by zoning), or pack as much house onto the same property as possible. The size of stand-alone houses has been steadily growing. It's up by more than 2.5 times since the 50s. [1] And then there are the modern features which used to be considered high-end but are becoming standard. Check the growth in the size of refrigerators, for example, or the number of homes that have multiple fridges/freezers. [1] https://www.darrinqualman.com/house-size/ https://www.darrinqualman.com/house-size/

UncleEntity 7y ago

"They" do everything they can to keep house prices from falling because of the expectation that houses keep increasing in value and are a good investment for your average citizen. Anything short of steadily increasing prices and people tend to lose their cushy government jobs.

zeroonetwothree 7y ago

Logically prices for everything cannot fall. If one price goes down that means another has to go up.

neffy 7y ago
Or supply increases - and then as supply goes to infinity prices go to zero.

harryh 7y ago

Are houses increasing the cost due to increases in features? Yes. http://www.aei.org/publication/new-us-homes-today-are-1000-square-feet-larger-than-in-1973-and-living-space-per-person-has-nearly-doubled/ http://www.aei.org/publication/new-us-homes-today-are-1000-s...

Zanni 7y ago

> Are houses increasing cost due to increase in features? Yes. The limited resource is land, so to maximize profit, developers either have to pack in more units (a strategy often restricted by zoning), or pack as much house onto the same property as possible. The size of stand-alone houses has been steadily growing. It's up by more than 2.5 times since the 50s. [1] And then there are the modern features which used to be considered high-end but are becoming standard. Check the growth in the size of refrigerators, for example, or the number of homes that have multiple fridges/freezers. [1] https://www.darrinqualman.com/house-size/ https://www.darrinqualman.com/house-size/