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The cause of high housing prices are low supply and high demand. Housing supply is growing at a slower rate than demand. There are two ways to solve this: 1) b

The cause of high housing prices are low supply and high demand. Housing supply is growing at a slower rate than demand. There are two ways to solve this: 1) build a ton of housing to catch up with demand 2) shrink your local economy to decrease demand If a lawmaker isn’t working on one of these two options, they do not actually support a platform of low housing prices. Airbnb is only a small slice of housing demand. It’s an ugly slice, which makes the company a convenient punching bag for politicians who want to act like they are trying to make housing affordable. But the economy in high-demand cities will keep growing regardless of whether you kill Airbnb.

DoreenMichele 7y ago
Yes and no. I used to be very active on a forum for urban planners. They made a very strong case that a few decades back and in living memory of some older members, small coastal towns in the US were affordable and pleasant and similar to other small towns. Then the practice of owning vacation homes drove up prices out of reach of locals and tourism brought other problems. And this was before Airbnb was a thing and magnified such issues. You need to build more housing and all that. But you also need to say "Housing is primarily for the people who actually live here and the wants and desires of wealthy tourists absolutely doesn't trump that." or basically the entire world lives in a shithole so a tiny fraction of the population can do whatever the fuck and indulge their every whim cuz money. This is not a good thing. Not even for the rich people getting away with it while people say "Eat the rich." There is a long history of the lower classes violently and murderously removing the elites when they do that. I'd like to not "live in interesting times" that include violent revolution. Covid19 is enough fun for me, thanks. I'm a boring fuddy duddy like that. Party pooper. Don't drink. Etc
- im3w1l 7y ago
  Isn't it more fair that everyone gets a chance to spend some time on the coast than that a few people who hoarded all the property there before we were even born get to have it to themselves?
  - DoreenMichele 7y ago
    People can spend time at the coast without owning a second home that sits empty most of the time. Historically, we used hotels to visit places we spent limited time in. (Or you can camp, visit friends, etc.)
    - im3w1l 7y ago
      I was replying to the vacation home part but the airbnb part. And regarding hotels they also drive up the price for coastal properties. I guess that is not as obvious for people to comprehend as they see an airbnb'd apartment and think "I could live there" while that doesn't go for the hotel. When really it's the lots they should consider.
      - gamblor956 7y ago
        Hotels are designed for short-term stays, and are regulated and taxed on that basis. (This includes such things as zoning, building code compliance, etc.) Units converted to AirBnBs were not designed for short-term stays or taxed on that basis, and generally AirBnB only exists because it leveraged regulatory arbitrage quickly enough to grow to the point it could lobby for changes to the law. But after multiple studies in multiple cities confirmed that only a handful of investors benefited from loose unregulated short-term rentals, the pendulum began swinging back towards regulating them like the hotels they are.
        DoreenMichele 7y ago
        It can also void your homeowners insurance to rent your home out on Airbnb. There have been articles about this. It sticks in my mind because I used to be in insurance. Residential buildings were not intended to be used this way and all the policy and infrastructure points to "No, really, you weren't supposed to use this as a commercial vehicle. That's not what all of society agreed to for this piece of real property."
        foldr 7y ago
nradov 7y ago
A third solution would be to actively encourage economic development in other cities, rather than cramming more and more residents and businesses into a few geographically constrained areas.
- djannzjkzxn 7y ago
  I’d find local politicians who block housing projects more credible if they were also telling companies to go away and hire people somewhere else. But in fact they keep approving giant office building projects.
blackrock 7y ago
The problem has been the boomers that have valuable housing, and actively vote in politicians and laws that will ensure that their housing prices remain high. Housing is a basic human right. But this is denied to millions of Americans, simply because those that came before them, were able to secure affordable housing for themselves, while locking out others from attaining affordable housing.
- dirtydroog 7y ago
  They were merely exercising their human right.
  - blackrock 7y ago
    Yes, true. They were exercising their own right to vote. However, at some point, their votes interfered with the human rights of others. At what point does the government and society step in, and say, enough is enough?
    - esyir 7y ago
      I'm very much sympathetic to those who can't afford housing in the prime areas, but housing in prime land is not a human right.
- BubRoss 7y ago
  How are people being 'denied' affordable housing? Do you mean to say that your ideal location is more than you want to spend? Did you find a place to live that was affordable and someone denied you from buying it?
  - charleslmunger 7y ago
    In many places it is literally illegal to build anything but the most expensive type of housing, due to single family zoning.
    - 7y ago

DoreenMichele 7y ago

Yes and no. I used to be very active on a forum for urban planners. They made a very strong case that a few decades back and in living memory of some older members, small coastal towns in the US were affordable and pleasant and similar to other small towns. Then the practice of owning vacation homes drove up prices out of reach of locals and tourism brought other problems. And this was before Airbnb was a thing and magnified such issues. You need to build more housing and all that. But you also need to say "Housing is primarily for the people who actually live here and the wants and desires of wealthy tourists absolutely doesn't trump that." or basically the entire world lives in a shithole so a tiny fraction of the population can do whatever the fuck and indulge their every whim cuz money. This is not a good thing. Not even for the rich people getting away with it while people say "Eat the rich." There is a long history of the lower classes violently and murderously removing the elites when they do that. I'd like to not "live in interesting times" that include violent revolution. Covid19 is enough fun for me, thanks. I'm a boring fuddy duddy like that. Party pooper. Don't drink. Etc

im3w1l 7y ago
Isn't it more fair that everyone gets a chance to spend some time on the coast than that a few people who hoarded all the property there before we were even born get to have it to themselves?
- DoreenMichele 7y ago
  People can spend time at the coast without owning a second home that sits empty most of the time. Historically, we used hotels to visit places we spent limited time in. (Or you can camp, visit friends, etc.)
  - im3w1l 7y ago
    I was replying to the vacation home part but the airbnb part. And regarding hotels they also drive up the price for coastal properties. I guess that is not as obvious for people to comprehend as they see an airbnb'd apartment and think "I could live there" while that doesn't go for the hotel. When really it's the lots they should consider.
    - gamblor956 7y ago
      Hotels are designed for short-term stays, and are regulated and taxed on that basis. (This includes such things as zoning, building code compliance, etc.) Units converted to AirBnBs were not designed for short-term stays or taxed on that basis, and generally AirBnB only exists because it leveraged regulatory arbitrage quickly enough to grow to the point it could lobby for changes to the law. But after multiple studies in multiple cities confirmed that only a handful of investors benefited from loose unregulated short-term rentals, the pendulum began swinging back towards regulating them like the hotels they are.
      - DoreenMichele 7y ago
        It can also void your homeowners insurance to rent your home out on Airbnb. There have been articles about this. It sticks in my mind because I used to be in insurance. Residential buildings were not intended to be used this way and all the policy and infrastructure points to "No, really, you weren't supposed to use this as a commercial vehicle. That's not what all of society agreed to for this piece of real property."
        foldr 7y ago

nradov 7y ago

A third solution would be to actively encourage economic development in other cities, rather than cramming more and more residents and businesses into a few geographically constrained areas.

djannzjkzxn 7y ago
I’d find local politicians who block housing projects more credible if they were also telling companies to go away and hire people somewhere else. But in fact they keep approving giant office building projects.

blackrock 7y ago

The problem has been the boomers that have valuable housing, and actively vote in politicians and laws that will ensure that their housing prices remain high. Housing is a basic human right. But this is denied to millions of Americans, simply because those that came before them, were able to secure affordable housing for themselves, while locking out others from attaining affordable housing.

dirtydroog 7y ago
They were merely exercising their human right.
- blackrock 7y ago
  Yes, true. They were exercising their own right to vote. However, at some point, their votes interfered with the human rights of others. At what point does the government and society step in, and say, enough is enough?
  - esyir 7y ago
    I'm very much sympathetic to those who can't afford housing in the prime areas, but housing in prime land is not a human right.
BubRoss 7y ago
How are people being 'denied' affordable housing? Do you mean to say that your ideal location is more than you want to spend? Did you find a place to live that was affordable and someone denied you from buying it?
- charleslmunger 7y ago
  In many places it is literally illegal to build anything but the most expensive type of housing, due to single family zoning.
  - 7y ago