Just like the entire housing system in this country. Probably actually a lot of systems in this country. Just a house of matchsticks seemingly soaked in gasoline just waiting for an ember.
Man, if the Fed didn't mandate I live in X counties I'd have moved my ass to some rural state with Google Fiber ages ago.
The housing market is due to greed, not risk. But really in this case risk and greed are synonymous since the insurance agencies want to transfer the risk away from themselves and back onto the paying customer. Insurance is a complete scam.
But since I’ve already started going down this rabbit hole, here are a few reasons why housing sucks in this country.
1. Airbnb and other hosting companies have snatched up too many homes… they’re no longer the “stay with a friend as you travel” service like they were created to be. Now they’re just shittier hotels that make you clean up after yourself.
2. Institutional money has poured into the residential real estate market for a few reasons. One, they bet big on a Covid rebound. Two, they looked to diversify away from capital markets as the bull run came to an end.
3. “Warehousing units” has become popular with landlords trying to recoup Covid costs. They’ve found that not renting out units in their buildings and charging 50% more per available unit is more profitable than being at full capacity because the costs are reduced. This is a huge reason why rents in cities are skyrocketing even though people are leaving them. When they tell you their buildings are completely booked, they’re lying. They’re creating artificial demand by decreasing supply and winning on margin.
4. Interest rates. People who locked in at 2-3% interest aren’t going to sell a house and pay 6-8% for a new one. It creates a shortage of both buyers and sellers.
5. We collectively hate poor people and no one wants affordable housing units built in their communities because gawd forbid the value of their homes decrease with all the riffraff moving in.
Generally speaking though, you are right. Our system is a system of haves and have-nots and the lawmakers are bought and paid for by the haves. Welcome to end-stage capitalism where the few exploit the many and tell everyone else to be thankful for the scraps.
