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I do wonder what country, besides Japan, will be the first one to 'break' and realize that, when you restrict supply in the face of rising demand, prices rise.

I do wonder what country, besides Japan, will be the first one to 'break' and realize that, when you restrict supply in the face of rising demand, prices rise. The current situation is sustainable for as long as voters keep voting in NIMBY politicians. Something may give, but something may not. https://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/i-will-do-anything-to-end-homelessness-except-build-more-homes https://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/i-will-do-anything-to-en...

rwmj 3y ago
It's absolutely about NIMBYs, but I wouldn't blame "NIMBY politicians" as they are responding to the demands of their voters (else they fairly soon wouldn't be politicians). An interesting article about the UK has never really built houses, except for a very short time before the second world war: https://worksinprogress.co/issue/why-britain-doesnt-build https://worksinprogress.co/issue/why-britain-doesnt-build If we haven't built sufficient houses for this long it's hard to see what could change to allow us to build more.
ako 3y ago
The problem is that it's a location supply problem, rather than a housing supply problem. People all want to live in the same locations, that are already full of houses.
- JambalayaJim 3y ago
  Toronto is full of single family homes, right in the heart of the city. This should not have happened. You should be able to density.
- CapstanRoller 3y ago
  As part of housing reform, we can also make more locations worth living in. There are plenty of small towns that could use the help (e.g. the Rust Belt)
pjc50 3y ago
> realize that, when you restrict supply in the face of rising demand, prices rise. Everyone knows this, so as long as there's a majority of homeowners who benefit from pushing values up, the problem is going to get worse.