you're saying housing prices should increase because land is finite and therefore scarce. but there is so much land in the US and more empty houses than homeles

you're saying housing prices should increase because land is finite and therefore scarce. but there is so much land in the US and more empty houses than homeless; even in expensive neighborhoods a lot of housing scarcity is artificially created by zoning policies for upper middle class residents with a vested interest in keeping their house valuable. and that's not even mentioning that the physical house itself (as distinct from the land) should generally depreciate in value as it ages and requires more maintenance and stuff replaced. same logic as a car