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Alternatively, the kind of real estate that these "forever renters" would like to buy are either not built or not available at the prices that they can afford.
by ebiester 3y ago
Alternatively, the kind of real estate that these "forever renters" would like to buy are either not built or not available at the prices that they can afford. I wasn't able to buy in San Francisco or Boston without a two hour commute, but renting was achievable. Now that I live in a middle cost-of-living area making a remote salary, I was able to buy at a reasonable price relative to renting.
On top of that, the labor market as it is rewards those who are willing to be flexible with their city of residence in many industries, and the transaction costs of moving are more expensive when you are buying and selling real estate. Further, the costs of buying in many cities are higher than renting for time periods of less than 10 years. This is again an article that couches structural issues as personal decisions.
- kazinator 3y agoDue to immigration, the demand is practically inexhaustible. You cannot build fast enough to fix the problem.
- epistasis 3y agoWhat will all those new people do, maybe some fraction will build homes... For places like the US, which this article is about, we are nowhere near a high rate of immigration, and population growth is nowhere near historical rates. What is at historical rates is restriction on the ability to build homes. We have never had greater artificial restrictions on growth than now. Our history do the past century is coming up with ways to prevent the natural densification that humanity has used throughout its history.
- kazinator 3y ago> densification that humanity has used throughout its history. Yeah! Didn't the Romans, like, invent "concretum" for building 40 story condo towers? We densified throughout history; what gives now?