A lot of these "analyses" ignore one simple fact: you need to live somewhere. The way I describe this is that you constantly have a short position on the local

A lot of these "analyses" ignore one simple fact: you need to live somewhere. The way I describe this is that you constantly have a short position on the local real estate market. If rents go up, you lose. If house prices go up, you lose. If either goes down, you win. That's a short position. So I view buying real estate as essentially canceling out your short position. Think about it: if the local market moves, it largely doesn't affect you. You can argue if you're underwater, it's bad. It's not good but your actual liability tends to be limited, particularly in no recourse states. For those unfamiliar, no recourse states give the lender the option to foreclose on the property if it's in default or to go after you for the debt. They can't do both. The author claims mortgages trap the poor in bad investments. The counterargument to that is you give stability to those who are most likely to be priced out by rent hikes and forced to move. Efforts to avoid that (eg rent control) don't really solve anything and just create the same problems that incumbent home ownership does: first come, first served. The author bemoans the lack of labour market flexibility with higher home ownership. This is true but is it bad? You have to remember he's talking about the 1930s when people were destitute and were forced to chase work. Should this really be a policy goal? The lack of the 30 year mortgage would likely disproportionately affect poor people. Real estate does need reform. I think we need to stop allowing funds and the super-rich to park money in real estate. Cities should be for those who live in the city, not Russian oligarchs who are anonymously "investing" via a REIT. We also need to stop subsidizing ultra-luxury building as happens in NYC (eg 421a abatements). But the 30 year mortgage? This feels like an attack on the most economically vulnerable to me. EDIT: corrected "negative short" to "short".