4 ms·

home ownership is directly tied to rental affordability, as the rental market is always going to be the alternative. Even if people aren't perfectly rational ag

by jlhawn 2y ago

home ownership is directly tied to rental affordability, as the rental market is always going to be the alternative. Even if people aren't perfectly rational agents, everyone has their own subjective present value function or heuristic to compare the cost of owning vs renting. They may be separate forms of tenure, but they do in fact compete with one another on price/value. If the price of alternatives to ownership were to fall, the price homebuyers are willing to pay would also fall. > [multifamily housing units are] not really the kind of place that most people want to buy to live in this is a descriptive norm - observed or perceived behaviors, preferences, and trends among a group of people who, typically, don't really have a choice to buy anything other than a detached house. Family-sized condos are actually highly sought after in dense urban areas where a detached house is an overt luxury, while in suburbs and rural areas they're a rare choice simply because it's illegal to build them.

scoofy 2y ago
People respond to incentives. I would rather live in a SFH for the same price, but I live in San Francisco, where that's absurdly expensive. When people talk about the proposed Sunset Tower, claiming "who would ever want to live there" my response is always, "me." If my needs are met by the units, and units are at a discount to the surrounding SFH's, I'd live there in a tower in a heartbeat.
- h0l0cube 2y ago
  > I'd live there in a tower in a heartbeat. I used to think this. Then I lived in an apartment for many years, and then I left. There's a big contingent of owner-occupiers in apartment buildings who don't stick around. It's just not a healthy way to live long term. I'm sure there are anecdotes from people who have stayed 5+ years full-time in an average apartment, and enjoyed it, and didn't yearn to be able to walk outside without being greeted by a (sometimes broken) elevator, or get a decent cross breeze of fresh air, or have access to sun all day long, but I'd wager they are the exception to the rule.
  - scoofy 2y ago
    Again, I'd be happy to.
    - h0l0cube 2y ago
      Yeah, like I was. Apartments are liminal spaces. Most people with an option leave after they realize this after some years. Even if you're one of the exceptions, you couldn't be sure of that until you've lived that lifestyle long enough.

by jlhawn 2y ago

scoofy 2y ago

People respond to incentives. I would rather live in a SFH for the same price, but I live in San Francisco, where that's absurdly expensive. When people talk about the proposed Sunset Tower, claiming "who would ever want to live there" my response is always, "me." If my needs are met by the units, and units are at a discount to the surrounding SFH's, I'd live there in a tower in a heartbeat.

h0l0cube 2y ago
> I'd live there in a tower in a heartbeat. I used to think this. Then I lived in an apartment for many years, and then I left. There's a big contingent of owner-occupiers in apartment buildings who don't stick around. It's just not a healthy way to live long term. I'm sure there are anecdotes from people who have stayed 5+ years full-time in an average apartment, and enjoyed it, and didn't yearn to be able to walk outside without being greeted by a (sometimes broken) elevator, or get a decent cross breeze of fresh air, or have access to sun all day long, but I'd wager they are the exception to the rule.
- scoofy 2y ago
  Again, I'd be happy to.
  - h0l0cube 2y ago
    Yeah, like I was. Apartments are liminal spaces. Most people with an option leave after they realize this after some years. Even if you're one of the exceptions, you couldn't be sure of that until you've lived that lifestyle long enough.