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> Build housing until the median number of applicants for a vacant home becomes 1 or 0. Make landlords desperate again This is so silly. Who's going to build

> Build housing until the median number of applicants for a vacant home becomes 1 or 0. Make landlords desperate again This is so silly. Who's going to build these hypothetical housing units? So many that there are more houses than applicants.

jeffbee 5y ago
Why don't you ask people in any nation where this is already national policy, such as Austria? Don't just imply that it is not possible, when there are existence proofs. For that matter, just ask your parents. It was national policy of the U.S. to build an overabundance of housing for the 50 years after the Great Depression, which is why landlords' income as a fraction of the national economy hit an all-time low in the mid 1980s. It has since rebounded to all-time highs, which is why nobody can find a place to live.
- kazinator 5y ago
  The population of Austria has grown by around 38% in the past ... 100 years. During this time, the world population has more than quadrupled.
  - TheOtherHobbes 5y ago
    I'm not following why you believe people in Austria should have their rent calculated based on the population of China and India. Can you explain what you mean in more detail?
    - throw10920 5y ago
      I'm not seeing where kazinator said that "people in Austria should have their rent calculated based on the population of China and India." Can you point out exactly where they said that?
    - kazinator 5y ago
      How much more detail? Growing by less than 40% in 100 years is slow. Austrians hardly had to scramble to provide housing for themselves. (Now this line of reasoning is simplified quite a bit, because housing is area dependent. Even if the population in some country remains constant, say that everyone suddenly decides that a very tiny area of the country is the only worthwhile place to live. They all concentrate there and now there is a housing problem now. Well, not everywhere, just in that spot! In other spots there are empty, cheap houses.)
- ChuckNorris89 5y ago
  >Why don't you ask people in any nation where this is already national policy, such as Austria? Don't just imply that it is not possible, when there are existence proofs. What? How? Real estate prices to income ratio in Austria is one of the worst in the EU. Few people can afford to buy without inheritance. Austrian real estate market is broken AF.
wan23 5y ago
You should expect that the market would build enough units that there were about as many homes as applicants in the absence of regulation. Getting to more than that should be doable with only minor incentives.
- reedjosh 5y ago
  > You should expect that the market would build enough units that there were about as many homes as applicants in the absence of regulation. While I sympathize with the logic, there is no reason to expect that.
adfgadfgaery 5y ago
There are so many investors who want to build apartments that most cities have laws to keep them out.

jeffbee 5y ago

Why don't you ask people in any nation where this is already national policy, such as Austria? Don't just imply that it is not possible, when there are existence proofs. For that matter, just ask your parents. It was national policy of the U.S. to build an overabundance of housing for the 50 years after the Great Depression, which is why landlords' income as a fraction of the national economy hit an all-time low in the mid 1980s. It has since rebounded to all-time highs, which is why nobody can find a place to live.

kazinator 5y ago
The population of Austria has grown by around 38% in the past ... 100 years. During this time, the world population has more than quadrupled.
- TheOtherHobbes 5y ago
  I'm not following why you believe people in Austria should have their rent calculated based on the population of China and India. Can you explain what you mean in more detail?
  - throw10920 5y ago
    I'm not seeing where kazinator said that "people in Austria should have their rent calculated based on the population of China and India." Can you point out exactly where they said that?
  - kazinator 5y ago
    How much more detail? Growing by less than 40% in 100 years is slow. Austrians hardly had to scramble to provide housing for themselves. (Now this line of reasoning is simplified quite a bit, because housing is area dependent. Even if the population in some country remains constant, say that everyone suddenly decides that a very tiny area of the country is the only worthwhile place to live. They all concentrate there and now there is a housing problem now. Well, not everywhere, just in that spot! In other spots there are empty, cheap houses.)
ChuckNorris89 5y ago
>Why don't you ask people in any nation where this is already national policy, such as Austria? Don't just imply that it is not possible, when there are existence proofs. What? How? Real estate prices to income ratio in Austria is one of the worst in the EU. Few people can afford to buy without inheritance. Austrian real estate market is broken AF.

wan23 5y ago

You should expect that the market would build enough units that there were about as many homes as applicants in the absence of regulation. Getting to more than that should be doable with only minor incentives.

reedjosh 5y ago
> You should expect that the market would build enough units that there were about as many homes as applicants in the absence of regulation. While I sympathize with the logic, there is no reason to expect that.

adfgadfgaery 5y ago

There are so many investors who want to build apartments that most cities have laws to keep them out.