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Unaffordable homes _is_ economic devastation. How are new generations supposed to prosper when they cannot afford a place to live?

by brink 5y ago

swagasaurus-rex 5y ago
It's like saying affordable healthcare is economic devastation because insurance companies and hospitals will lose profits. It's completely ignoring the massive wealth drain on the average American. There's an enormous opportunity cost.
- fancifalmanima 5y ago
  Don't something like 65% of Americans own their homes? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Home-ownership_in_the_United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Home-ownership_in_the_United_S... Realistically, we're in a place where significant prices increases (which has happened, obviously ) and a significant price drop would both have a significant economic impact. Both groups (home owners, and renters) are large. And while a chunk of people that own homes are investors, there are a ton of people that own their home and pretty much depend on selling and capturing the equity in the future for either their next house or retirement. Many of those people are just middle class folks, well into the fat part of the bell curve. Obviously on the flip side, more expensive homes makes it more difficult for new homeowners to buy in, and break out of the renting cycle, build equity, build wealth, etc, etc, and that's also bad. Just wanted to point out the flip side of it.
- rootusrootus 5y ago
  Are you going to reset the mortgages for all the Americans who already own their home? Give them rebates if they've already paid it off? I get that this seems like an unpopular observation on HN. But still, any significant price reset on real estate in the US would cause a LOT of people to lose a huge amount of their net worth. And if they recently bought their first home, they will then be massively underwater with all of the negatives that brings. It's pretty easy to say that only investors are going to lose, without appreciating that you're advocating for destroying more than half the population in order to provide a better future for the remainder. Think of a better plan.

Unaffordable homes _is_ economic devastation. How are new generations supposed to prosper when they cannot afford a place to live?

by brink 5y ago

Unaffordable homes _is_ economic devastation. How are new generations supposed to prosper when they cannot afford a place to live?

swagasaurus-rex 5y ago

It's like saying affordable healthcare is economic devastation because insurance companies and hospitals will lose profits. It's completely ignoring the massive wealth drain on the average American. There's an enormous opportunity cost.

fancifalmanima 5y ago
Don't something like 65% of Americans own their homes? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Home-ownership_in_the_United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Home-ownership_in_the_United_S... Realistically, we're in a place where significant prices increases (which has happened, obviously ) and a significant price drop would both have a significant economic impact. Both groups (home owners, and renters) are large. And while a chunk of people that own homes are investors, there are a ton of people that own their home and pretty much depend on selling and capturing the equity in the future for either their next house or retirement. Many of those people are just middle class folks, well into the fat part of the bell curve. Obviously on the flip side, more expensive homes makes it more difficult for new homeowners to buy in, and break out of the renting cycle, build equity, build wealth, etc, etc, and that's also bad. Just wanted to point out the flip side of it.
rootusrootus 5y ago
Are you going to reset the mortgages for all the Americans who already own their home? Give them rebates if they've already paid it off? I get that this seems like an unpopular observation on HN. But still, any significant price reset on real estate in the US would cause a LOT of people to lose a huge amount of their net worth. And if they recently bought their first home, they will then be massively underwater with all of the negatives that brings. It's pretty easy to say that only investors are going to lose, without appreciating that you're advocating for destroying more than half the population in order to provide a better future for the remainder. Think of a better plan.