3 ms·

If the Biden administration wanted to expand housing (lower housing cost) they would offer low interest loans to home builders and attach zoning-change strings

If the Biden administration wanted to expand housing (lower housing cost) they would offer low interest loans to home builders and attach zoning-change strings to federal dollars given to states/municipalities. But it's likely they don't really want to shake things up. High housing cost is primarily a problem in Blue districts, and Democrats hate losing asset value as much as anyone else.

blitzar 3y ago
> wanted to expand housing (lower housing cost) they would offer low interest loans to home builders Not sure if you noticed, but the home builder have been able to borrow near infinte quantities of cash at ~0% for the last decade. It did not expand housing or lower the housing cost.
- Workaccount2 3y ago
  They need a place to build those houses.
- NoMoreNicksLeft 3y ago
  Ok, so that's not the constraint. What's left on the list of possibilities to check off?
  - csa 3y ago
    I can think of at least three: 1. Land where people want to live. 2. Appropriate/different zoning. 3. Efficient/timely acquisition of relevant permits.
    - bombcar 3y ago
      You forgot: 0. People who can buy the finished home
      - csa 3y ago
        I’m not sure where you are, but here in central coast California, there are no shortage of these folks. Supply is still much, much lower than demand, and my friends in real estate are grousing about it.
        bombcar 3y ago
        Yeah part of it is that a builder can't just spring out of nowhere, you need a certain number of skilled craftsmen hours to build a house (probably a craftsmanyear or so) and if they're all busy, it's not simple to make more.
  - Tagbert 3y ago
    It is easier to make money by investing in expensive housing than investing in cheap housing. You can sell both, so why tie up your assets in something with less return?
- bombcar 3y ago
  > It did not expand housing or lower the housing cost. Unless we're losing 1.4 million dwelling units a year, housing is expanding: https://www.census.gov/construction/nrc/current/index.html https://www.census.gov/construction/nrc/current/index.html Maybe not as fast as we need/want, but it is expanding.
greenhearth 3y ago
BS
psunavy03 3y ago
> Democrats hate losing asset value as much as anyone else. There's a reason for that. Home equity is one of the crucial pieces of being able to comfortably retire, and the largest component of most middle-class people's net worth.
- FooBarBizBazz 3y ago
  We'd be better off with more wealth in index funds, and cheaper houses. When the British Empire wanted to reduce the value of an important asset, in that case by criminalizing it -- I'm talking about slavery -- they paid reparations to the "owners", basically to bribe them into accepting the change to society. We may likewise need to bribe homeowners to ram through the necessary changes.
- jkestner 3y ago
  We've shifted from a manufacturing to a service economy, hence the focus on moving unionization to that sector. Going from home ownership/pensions to... nothing as a retirement plan is a similar generational shift that political parties must learn to navigate (cheap housing, UBI, criminalizing homelessness, etc), but apparently not before the baby boomers dwindle.

blitzar 3y ago

> wanted to expand housing (lower housing cost) they would offer low interest loans to home builders Not sure if you noticed, but the home builder have been able to borrow near infinte quantities of cash at ~0% for the last decade. It did not expand housing or lower the housing cost.

Workaccount2 3y ago
They need a place to build those houses.
NoMoreNicksLeft 3y ago
Ok, so that's not the constraint. What's left on the list of possibilities to check off?
- csa 3y ago
  I can think of at least three: 1. Land where people want to live. 2. Appropriate/different zoning. 3. Efficient/timely acquisition of relevant permits.
  - bombcar 3y ago
    You forgot: 0. People who can buy the finished home
    - csa 3y ago
      I’m not sure where you are, but here in central coast California, there are no shortage of these folks. Supply is still much, much lower than demand, and my friends in real estate are grousing about it.
      - bombcar 3y ago
        Yeah part of it is that a builder can't just spring out of nowhere, you need a certain number of skilled craftsmen hours to build a house (probably a craftsmanyear or so) and if they're all busy, it's not simple to make more.
- Tagbert 3y ago
  It is easier to make money by investing in expensive housing than investing in cheap housing. You can sell both, so why tie up your assets in something with less return?
bombcar 3y ago
> It did not expand housing or lower the housing cost. Unless we're losing 1.4 million dwelling units a year, housing is expanding: https://www.census.gov/construction/nrc/current/index.html https://www.census.gov/construction/nrc/current/index.html Maybe not as fast as we need/want, but it is expanding.

greenhearth 3y ago

psunavy03 3y ago

> Democrats hate losing asset value as much as anyone else. There's a reason for that. Home equity is one of the crucial pieces of being able to comfortably retire, and the largest component of most middle-class people's net worth.

FooBarBizBazz 3y ago
We'd be better off with more wealth in index funds, and cheaper houses. When the British Empire wanted to reduce the value of an important asset, in that case by criminalizing it -- I'm talking about slavery -- they paid reparations to the "owners", basically to bribe them into accepting the change to society. We may likewise need to bribe homeowners to ram through the necessary changes.
jkestner 3y ago
We've shifted from a manufacturing to a service economy, hence the focus on moving unionization to that sector. Going from home ownership/pensions to... nothing as a retirement plan is a similar generational shift that political parties must learn to navigate (cheap housing, UBI, criminalizing homelessness, etc), but apparently not before the baby boomers dwindle.