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It's not really the economy in general. It's just cities. Most major US metro areas have under-built housing compared to demand every decade since the 1970s, an

It's not really the economy in general. It's just cities. Most major US metro areas have under-built housing compared to demand every decade since the 1970s, and all of it is entirely self-inflicted through zoning and permitting. The only real hope of progress here is for states to start outright overriding local laws around housing, as California has been increasingly doing.

bugglebeetle 3y ago
The laws that have been passed in California will not have any meaningful impact on affordability, so I wouldn’t look to them for hope or progress. It would take decades and decades of building at a level not seen since the postwar era to undo the damage done to the state by real estate speculators and Proposition 13.
- crooked-v 3y ago
  Nothing is going to instantly change housing availability, but shrugging and giving up now will make things way worse in those future decades.
  - bugglebeetle 3y ago
    Lots of things could instantly change housing availability (e.g. banning investment funds from owning homes, direct state construction, abolition of zoning), but none of those will happen because they would cost real estate speculators money, as well as the politicians they bankroll.
thomaslord 3y ago
If you go far enough away from the nearest city that housing prices drop, median income drops as well. I'm not saying I'm surprised that housing in NYC is expensive, but I live in the suburbs of Philadelphia (specifically in one of the cheaper areas that's still close enough to commute into the city) and housing is expensive here too.
- crooked-v 3y ago
  Housing is incredibly expensive everywhere in the US because every major metro area is short on housing [1]. It really doesn't matter where you go specifically because anywhere that people might want to live, for any reason, suffers from the spillover effect from all the people in high-population states who will never be able to afford homes there. [1] https://www.fanniemae.com/research-and-insights/perspectives/us-housing-shortage https://www.fanniemae.com/research-and-insights/perspectives... - take a look the linked report

bugglebeetle 3y ago

The laws that have been passed in California will not have any meaningful impact on affordability, so I wouldn’t look to them for hope or progress. It would take decades and decades of building at a level not seen since the postwar era to undo the damage done to the state by real estate speculators and Proposition 13.

crooked-v 3y ago
Nothing is going to instantly change housing availability, but shrugging and giving up now will make things way worse in those future decades.
- bugglebeetle 3y ago
  Lots of things could instantly change housing availability (e.g. banning investment funds from owning homes, direct state construction, abolition of zoning), but none of those will happen because they would cost real estate speculators money, as well as the politicians they bankroll.

thomaslord 3y ago

If you go far enough away from the nearest city that housing prices drop, median income drops as well. I'm not saying I'm surprised that housing in NYC is expensive, but I live in the suburbs of Philadelphia (specifically in one of the cheaper areas that's still close enough to commute into the city) and housing is expensive here too.

crooked-v 3y ago
Housing is incredibly expensive everywhere in the US because every major metro area is short on housing [1]. It really doesn't matter where you go specifically because anywhere that people might want to live, for any reason, suffers from the spillover effect from all the people in high-population states who will never be able to afford homes there. [1] https://www.fanniemae.com/research-and-insights/perspectives/us-housing-shortage https://www.fanniemae.com/research-and-insights/perspectives... - take a look the linked report