4 ms·

Often it's software developers that made homes unaffordable for everyone.

solid_fuel 2y ago
No, failing to build enough housing and apartments over the last 30 years made homes unaffordable. Software developers were just lucky enough to be making above average income, enough to afford a house even while prices rose.
- LoganDark 2y ago
  Not anymore.
  - ehnto 2y ago
    Which is crazy. Where I live, even upper-middle class can't afford a house, so what is going on? Who is actually participating in the market to keep prices so high, and who ultimately benefits from all this imaginary value on non-productive asset speculation?
- throwaway48476 2y ago
  No one mentions it but the problem is immigration. It pushed the demand curve too high.
  - CamperBob2 2y ago
    No one mentions it because it's ridiculous.
    - sam_lowry_ 2y ago
      While we are at this.. the real reason is that we have too many kids.
  - Fire-Dragon-DoL 2y ago
    The U.S. is really big, if housing was built there wouldn't be a problem
    - throwaway48476 2y ago
      Not all land is equally valuable. People need access to water and food. There's a reason why every big city is located next to a river.
- solardev 2y ago
  We have plenty of homes to go around. They're just not affordable.
lurking_swe 2y ago
sure, in silicon valley. The rest of the US? Nope…that would be due to a variety of factors: - allowing corporations to “own” homes. - allowing individuals to personally own more than 1 home, EVEN if those other homes were vacant for 95% of the year. (this encourages the rich to “invest” in 2nd homes, or make them AirBnb’s) - allowing foreign buyers at all (this encourages wasteful ultra-luxury real estate in places like manhattan) - not building _enough_ housing, especially starter homes. - corporations and billionaires taking a larger piece of the pie, which has cause stagnating income growth (except for a minor bump post-covid) for decades. i could go on. Most of this problem was “manufactured” by the US govt via greedy (or in some case shortsighted) laws and policies. In other words, there are almost no strict policies on housing in the US. It’s a free for all, and the rich win. How surprising. For context i own a home so im not personally affected. But i’m bitter because the people “at the top” in the US seem to hate everyone else. It’s an “i got mine attitude”. Shameful.
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
gedy 2y ago
Please - not another us vs them blame game between the lower classes, it distracts from the govt policies and financial industries that got us into this mess.
- solardev 2y ago
  There is no one cause that leads to housing shortages, but tech salaries are a huge issue in and around tech hubs like the SF Bay and Seattle. And especially during covid, with remote work, the rich spread out to towns nearby and bought up all the housing there too and pushed out the locals. That's not the government's fault (besides lockdown), it's because tech workers were way overpaid (and hence all the layoffs and salary deflation now).

No, failing to build enough housing and apartments over the last 30 years made homes unaffordable. Software developers were just lucky enough to be making above average income, enough to afford a house even while prices rose.

LoganDark 2y ago
Not anymore.
- ehnto 2y ago
  Which is crazy. Where I live, even upper-middle class can't afford a house, so what is going on? Who is actually participating in the market to keep prices so high, and who ultimately benefits from all this imaginary value on non-productive asset speculation?
throwaway48476 2y ago
No one mentions it but the problem is immigration. It pushed the demand curve too high.
- CamperBob2 2y ago
  No one mentions it because it's ridiculous.
  - sam_lowry_ 2y ago
    While we are at this.. the real reason is that we have too many kids.
- Fire-Dragon-DoL 2y ago
  The U.S. is really big, if housing was built there wouldn't be a problem
  - throwaway48476 2y ago
    Not all land is equally valuable. People need access to water and food. There's a reason why every big city is located next to a river.
solardev 2y ago
We have plenty of homes to go around. They're just not affordable.

lurking_swe 2y ago

sure, in silicon valley. The rest of the US? Nope…that would be due to a variety of factors: - allowing corporations to “own” homes. - allowing individuals to personally own more than 1 home, EVEN if those other homes were vacant for 95% of the year. (this encourages the rich to “invest” in 2nd homes, or make them AirBnb’s) - allowing foreign buyers at all (this encourages wasteful ultra-luxury real estate in places like manhattan) - not building _enough_ housing, especially starter homes. - corporations and billionaires taking a larger piece of the pie, which has cause stagnating income growth (except for a minor bump post-covid) for decades. i could go on. Most of this problem was “manufactured” by the US govt via greedy (or in some case shortsighted) laws and policies. In other words, there are almost no strict policies on housing in the US. It’s a free for all, and the rich win. How surprising. For context i own a home so im not personally affected. But i’m bitter because the people “at the top” in the US seem to hate everyone else. It’s an “i got mine attitude”. Shameful.

deleted 2y ago
[deleted]

gedy 2y ago

Please - not another us vs them blame game between the lower classes, it distracts from the govt policies and financial industries that got us into this mess.

solardev 2y ago
There is no one cause that leads to housing shortages, but tech salaries are a huge issue in and around tech hubs like the SF Bay and Seattle. And especially during covid, with remote work, the rich spread out to towns nearby and bought up all the housing there too and pushed out the locals. That's not the government's fault (besides lockdown), it's because tech workers were way overpaid (and hence all the layoffs and salary deflation now).