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In more civilized countries, plenty of housing stock is built by the government, which is why it is not treated as an investment commodity for speculation.
by miguelazo 4y ago
In more civilized countries, plenty of housing stock is built by the government, which is why it is not treated as an investment commodity for speculation.
- Plasmoid 4y agoThe problem is people hate new housing. Until you change public perception of this relegating this to the government is going to make the situation worse. Right now, private builders can bribe people to allow construction if the market price is high enough. If the government had to do it, there would be basically no new construction. It's politically unpopular and very expensive, so it's an easy project to axe.
- miguelazo 4y agoPeople hate new housing because it’s 95% luxury condos and McMansions in the US, precisely because we rely too much on the private sector to build housing. Of course they will only focus on units with the fattest margins.
- colinmhayes 4y agoThe land is the investment here, not the building. Buildings generally go down in value over time, just like most other things. It’s the land that’s gets more expensive as demand increases but supply doesn’t change.
- roflyear 4y agoCorrect. It is hard to make more land.