In the UK, there is a similar mechanism, but also with a perverse twist. Housing is very expensive, and buying your first house is often a titanic effort. It r

In the UK, there is a similar mechanism, but also with a perverse twist. Housing is very expensive, and buying your first house is often a titanic effort. It requires years of saving, often ain informal loan from family and then a substantial mortgage. So once you buy this thing, your biggest fear is that it will depreciate. Never mind making money out of it. This creates a lot of very strong local NIMBYism, and in the UK it's not that hard for the local population to stop housing projects. When phrased like this, I do sympathise, even if it's "selfish". A mere announcement of new housing projects in the vicinity can cut your house value by 10%, or easily more. So we created a world where house owning club is super expensive to join, and once you're in, it is your existential imperative to keep house prices high. All this before you even say "appreciation". I posit that most people in the UK would be quite happy with affordable housing whose price is linked to inflation or sth.