Housing being an investment is the inevitable consequence of a free market around real estate. Land is scarce. Land near job centers is scarcer. There are far m

Housing being an investment is the inevitable consequence of a free market around real estate. Land is scarce. Land near job centers is scarcer. There are far more people that want to live in nice neighborhoods near high-paying jobs than could possibly live there. How do you allocate that real estate? Who gets to buy the next housing unit built in Manhattan? (This is equivalent to the question: you are selling your housing unit in Manhattan; who are you allowed to sell it to?) If "investors" are not allowed to buy housing in Manhattan, who will develop the high-rises that house people who can't afford to buy their own apartment? Or do you institute price controls, so that instead of paying with money, you pay with generation-long wait times?