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Amen. The purity tests that “Affordable Housing” is subjected to inevitably leads to failure. Build housing. Build too much of it, to the point where it’s hard

Amen. The purity tests that “Affordable Housing” is subjected to inevitably leads to failure. Build housing. Build too much of it, to the point where it’s hard to sell and you have to lower the price to find buyers. That’s it. Housing is a supply problem. The housing crisis isn’t happening because houses cost $2,000,000, it’s happening because there are a dozen buyers ready to pay that amount for it.

bps4484 5y ago
I was going to come here to say this. The only nit I have (and I think this is actually what you meant) is we must build more housing. I say this because often people think it's good to tear down an old house and build a new one. That isn't helping things (and I'd argue actively hurts things).
t-writescode 5y ago
> Build housing. Build too much of it, to the point where it’s hard to sell Why would someone build too much housing that makes it hard to sell? Government incentives? (I agree with the want, I don't know how the free market would do it on its own without incentive, when there's already lots of incentive to have not-enough-housing.)
- lwansbrough 5y ago
  They won’t. However, it will get built as long as there’s a profit to be made. And it’s more profitable to build a 2/3/4/5/6-plex on a single lot than an single family unit. It’s just not legal in most places. Make it legal and the development will come. Every house replaced with a 6-plex is an excellent increase in density. The government can even optionally add a land value capture requirement to one or more of the units to make it permanently affordable to low income workers.
rasz 5y ago
Investors will buy out everything, and outbid anyone else in the process.
- harambae 5y ago
  >Investors will buy out everything, and outbid anyone else in the process. Investors need a cash on cash return above their hurdle rate. When they can't hit that they'll liquidate, even at a loss, to move on (like Zillow just did). I'm not sure where these cartoonish views come from. Investors aren't looking to make bad investments just so they can cackle at all the poors they're hurting from their underwater Bond villain lair.
- t-writescode 5y ago
  So how do we stop this? What laws need to go in place to stop this?
jbay808 5y ago
This has been happening in China for over ten years, and housing has only been getting more expensive in the process -- even while much of it remains empty, waiting to be sold to a higher bidder. Yes, it will all collapse someday, maybe soon. But as long as housing is treated as an investment, it can remain unaffordable in the face of supply surplus.

bps4484 5y ago

I was going to come here to say this. The only nit I have (and I think this is actually what you meant) is we must build more housing. I say this because often people think it's good to tear down an old house and build a new one. That isn't helping things (and I'd argue actively hurts things).

t-writescode 5y ago

> Build housing. Build too much of it, to the point where it’s hard to sell Why would someone build too much housing that makes it hard to sell? Government incentives? (I agree with the want, I don't know how the free market would do it on its own without incentive, when there's already lots of incentive to have not-enough-housing.)

lwansbrough 5y ago
They won’t. However, it will get built as long as there’s a profit to be made. And it’s more profitable to build a 2/3/4/5/6-plex on a single lot than an single family unit. It’s just not legal in most places. Make it legal and the development will come. Every house replaced with a 6-plex is an excellent increase in density. The government can even optionally add a land value capture requirement to one or more of the units to make it permanently affordable to low income workers.

rasz 5y ago

Investors will buy out everything, and outbid anyone else in the process.

harambae 5y ago
>Investors will buy out everything, and outbid anyone else in the process. Investors need a cash on cash return above their hurdle rate. When they can't hit that they'll liquidate, even at a loss, to move on (like Zillow just did). I'm not sure where these cartoonish views come from. Investors aren't looking to make bad investments just so they can cackle at all the poors they're hurting from their underwater Bond villain lair.
t-writescode 5y ago
So how do we stop this? What laws need to go in place to stop this?

jbay808 5y ago

This has been happening in China for over ten years, and housing has only been getting more expensive in the process -- even while much of it remains empty, waiting to be sold to a higher bidder. Yes, it will all collapse someday, maybe soon. But as long as housing is treated as an investment, it can remain unaffordable in the face of supply surplus.