That bottom they’re racing to is defined by supply and demand. All these problems – the REITs, the AirBNBs, the foreign investors, the gouging landlords, the sleazy dishonest realtors, etc. are all exploiting the same underlying issue: housing is in short supply, and so whoever controls it can name their price. The way to defeat all these monsters is to get more built ASAP.
I would say that they’re creating the short supply, and the real issue is that we’re able to charge money for something people need to live. That almost always causes exploitation.
Normally when a price for a good/service is too high, we can stop buying until prices go down. With necessities though, if we stop buying, we die. That means landlords and home sellers don’t have to adjust prices much.
I feel the solution isn’t to make a shit tonne more homes. It’s instead to stop charging money for homes. Unfortunately this isn’t going to happen willingly.
That bottom they’re racing to is defined by supply and demand. All these problems – the REITs, the AirBNBs, the foreign investors, the gouging landlords, the sleazy dishonest realtors, etc. are all exploiting the same underlying issue: housing is in short supply, and so whoever controls it can name their price. The way to defeat all these monsters is to get more built ASAP.
I would say that they’re creating the short supply, and the real issue is that we’re able to charge money for something people need to live. That almost always causes exploitation.
Normally when a price for a good/service is too high, we can stop buying until prices go down. With necessities though, if we stop buying, we die. That means landlords and home sellers don’t have to adjust prices much.
I feel the solution isn’t to make a shit tonne more homes. It’s instead to stop charging money for homes. Unfortunately this isn’t going to happen willingly.