The cause of the problem is that companies are claiming an outsized share of productivity growth such that the house is simply worth more to them. There’s more

The cause of the problem is that companies are claiming an outsized share of productivity growth such that the house is simply worth more to them. There’s more money in the investment class than there is among homebuyers, and the investment class needs somewhere to put their money that won’t depreciate. This is what happens when real wages stagnate for 20 years but the economy keeps growing and consolidating. Eventually it catches up to you and you end up with a decade of stagflation while the imbalance corrects itself and a competitive market is re-established. Unchecked free-market capitalism has its drawbacks in the long term; we fucked around and we’re about to find out.