Your causation is reversed. Financial speculation happens because people believe (reasonably) that the price of a home will increase. Why do they hold this bel

Your causation is reversed. Financial speculation happens because people believe (reasonably) that the price of a home will increase. Why do they hold this belief? Because the demand has increased while the supply is kept artificially constant. That's what's so frustrating about all of this -- it's a complete own goal. If we all collectively do nothing at all, developers will move in to capture the consumer surplus. It will be profitable to build, not buy and hold.