4 ms·

Why is this happening everywhere right now? On Reddit I see this in so many places (US, UK, Europe, not sure about Asia)

by prox 2y ago

candiddevmike 2y ago
Too few houses, too many landlords (commercial and "investment properties")
- moralestapia 2y ago
  Nah, there's more than enough housing for everybody; quite obvious by the observable fact that people have a roof over their heads, lol. The value of currency went down significantly, i.e. actual inflation is massive. Salaries didn't go up as much, not even close, and here we are. >inb4 ...
moffkalast 2y ago
I recall a thread from someone from South America in the Slovenia subreddit, where they said they wanted to move to Europe because it's impossible to afford a home where they currently live. The response was basically "yeah, welcome to the club pal". It's definitely a global issue, rising population mixed with late stage capitalism.
- formerly_proven 2y ago
  Is this late stage capitalism in the room with us now?
  - ceejayoz 2y ago
    It owns the room.
    - fragmede 2y ago
      Sorry but a private equity firm has just bought the room and they're asking all of us to leave so that they can turn it into a car wash.
  - moffkalast 2y ago
    It's always in the room with us. And outside the room as well.
factorialboy 2y ago
In brief, too many USD printed since 2008 (especially the Covid money printer), that percolated into certain jobs/professions – and lead to highly inflated asset prices. These things are worth what they always were, FIAT currencies have lost value.
littlecranky67 2y ago
Situation in Europe is often reported in misleading ways. Everybody calls it "housing crisis" - but we do not have millions of homeless roaming the street. It is actually a "moving crisis" - people want to move to nicer places but can't afford it. I.e. here in Germany, we have close to 1M perfectly habitable empty flats/houses - but they are in rural areas or the countryside. Indeed there is high demand for urban areas and cities, at the same time rural villages struggle to find and retain their population because everybody (especially younger people) move to the city. You might have heard of those italian villages offering houses for 1€, just to attract families and keep those villages alive.
- sir0010010 2y ago
  So, there is an urban housing crisis, or housing crisis for people that need to live near jobs or other people then?
  - littlecranky67 2y ago
    "Need to live near jobs" is a good point. People forget how mobile our society has become compared to our grand-parents generation. Nowadays you have the possibility to get your "dream job" and move for it wherever you want. Your grand-parents most likely took the first best job and career available in the area, not thinking about "self fulfilment" in their careers. In a lot of cases you do not need to move to have a job, but we rather want to be a software engineer in a Hotshot Company in a "culture rich city" rather than a farmer in your rural home town.
- formerly_proven 2y ago
  There are many cheap vacant dwellings in fly-over states and backwater towns in the US as well.
- candiodari 2y ago
  That's because a house 100km away from the nearest job is not cheap. Even rural area houses are very expensive compared to what jobs in those rural areas pay. This makes them even more of a trap. The rents will go up. And yet, even more jobs will leave those places. And then you haven't saved up, because the amounts were tiny
TriangleEdge 2y ago
Canada has had a "housing crisis" for 15 years now. The main campaigning ground of the opposition are issues with housing.
the_biot 2y ago
The strange thing is that while I definitely see it happening in many places around the world, not all the causes are the same. I think @moralestapia has it right: massive inflation is likely a root cause.

Why is this happening everywhere right now? On Reddit I see this in so many places (US, UK, Europe, not sure about Asia)

by prox 2y ago

Why is this happening everywhere right now? On Reddit I see this in so many places (US, UK, Europe, not sure about Asia)

candiddevmike 2y ago

Too few houses, too many landlords (commercial and "investment properties")

moralestapia 2y ago
Nah, there's more than enough housing for everybody; quite obvious by the observable fact that people have a roof over their heads, lol. The value of currency went down significantly, i.e. actual inflation is massive. Salaries didn't go up as much, not even close, and here we are. >inb4 ...

moffkalast 2y ago

I recall a thread from someone from South America in the Slovenia subreddit, where they said they wanted to move to Europe because it's impossible to afford a home where they currently live. The response was basically "yeah, welcome to the club pal". It's definitely a global issue, rising population mixed with late stage capitalism.

formerly_proven 2y ago
Is this late stage capitalism in the room with us now?
- ceejayoz 2y ago
  It owns the room.
  - fragmede 2y ago
    Sorry but a private equity firm has just bought the room and they're asking all of us to leave so that they can turn it into a car wash.
- moffkalast 2y ago
  It's always in the room with us. And outside the room as well.

factorialboy 2y ago

In brief, too many USD printed since 2008 (especially the Covid money printer), that percolated into certain jobs/professions – and lead to highly inflated asset prices. These things are worth what they always were, FIAT currencies have lost value.

littlecranky67 2y ago

Situation in Europe is often reported in misleading ways. Everybody calls it "housing crisis" - but we do not have millions of homeless roaming the street. It is actually a "moving crisis" - people want to move to nicer places but can't afford it. I.e. here in Germany, we have close to 1M perfectly habitable empty flats/houses - but they are in rural areas or the countryside. Indeed there is high demand for urban areas and cities, at the same time rural villages struggle to find and retain their population because everybody (especially younger people) move to the city. You might have heard of those italian villages offering houses for 1€, just to attract families and keep those villages alive.

sir0010010 2y ago
So, there is an urban housing crisis, or housing crisis for people that need to live near jobs or other people then?
- littlecranky67 2y ago
  "Need to live near jobs" is a good point. People forget how mobile our society has become compared to our grand-parents generation. Nowadays you have the possibility to get your "dream job" and move for it wherever you want. Your grand-parents most likely took the first best job and career available in the area, not thinking about "self fulfilment" in their careers. In a lot of cases you do not need to move to have a job, but we rather want to be a software engineer in a Hotshot Company in a "culture rich city" rather than a farmer in your rural home town.
formerly_proven 2y ago
There are many cheap vacant dwellings in fly-over states and backwater towns in the US as well.
candiodari 2y ago
That's because a house 100km away from the nearest job is not cheap. Even rural area houses are very expensive compared to what jobs in those rural areas pay. This makes them even more of a trap. The rents will go up. And yet, even more jobs will leave those places. And then you haven't saved up, because the amounts were tiny

TriangleEdge 2y ago

Canada has had a "housing crisis" for 15 years now. The main campaigning ground of the opposition are issues with housing.

the_biot 2y ago

The strange thing is that while I definitely see it happening in many places around the world, not all the causes are the same. I think @moralestapia has it right: massive inflation is likely a root cause.