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People who aren't comfortable with the uncertainties of homeownership are free to rent instead. There are plenty of other investment opportunities out there. It
by natrius 14y ago
People who aren't comfortable with the uncertainties of homeownership are free to rent instead. There are plenty of other investment opportunities out there. It isn't self-evident that keeping neighborhoods static creates more value than it destroys. I think there's more evidence to the contrary.
- anigbrowl 14y agoIt's not a binary choice between runaway Shanghai-style development and amber-like stasis. You can equally argue that if people don't have any input into the planning process then they won't invest that property market in the first place. If there aren't enough people willing to buy, then developers won't be willing to build. This is why developers create HOA corporations for apartment buildings and tract housing, and make membership a condition of sale: to assure buyers that the development will be maintained in similar style to the time the properties were offered to the market. They don't emerge naturally from some common democratic impulse of apartment-dwellers or suburbanites. Also, home ownership is not an investment opportunity for most people, who are looking for a place to live long-term rather than to flip or extract cash value from (the departure from this historical approach has a lot to do with the recent financial crisis). Rather, most homeowners want to extract use value and simply maintain the asset price.