I don't have the knowledge that you do on this topic, so I'll come at the problem from a slightly different angle. I wonder how much the current view of home ownership as investment has shifted laws and behaviors. When I was a kid, I don't remember that being part of the calculus: home was shelter, both physical and psychological. Now it seems like nearly everyone treats home ownership as a form of ATM and an investment that must increase in value, no matter what market forces are doing.
More on topic: I keep up with news in Bellingham WA, where we used to live. It's been trying various things to help ease its housing crisis. A tiny home village is looking for a new site to move to: https://www.bellinghamherald.com/news/local/article274554301.html How can that happen?!
The financialization of housing is part of it, absolutely. There’s no single answer, or root cause.
Making mortgages fungible and tradable started us down this path. It worked in making mortgages more available and less expensive, until it didn’t. Affordable shelter is what enabled the mobility that drove the post-WW 2 growth of the middle class. Now it’s at the core of its decline.
Tiny homes can and should be part of the mosaic of options, but dint work for most families, given their size.
We need a mosaic of housing options. And education at all levels about how to manage responsible growth.
I don't have the knowledge that you do on this topic, so I'll come at the problem from a slightly different angle. I wonder how much the current view of home ownership as investment has shifted laws and behaviors. When I was a kid, I don't remember that being part of the calculus: home was shelter, both physical and psychological. Now it seems like nearly everyone treats home ownership as a form of ATM and an investment that must increase in value, no matter what market forces are doing.
More on topic: I keep up with news in Bellingham WA, where we used to live. It's been trying various things to help ease its housing crisis. A tiny home village is looking for a new site to move to: https://www.bellinghamherald.com/news/local/article274554301.html How can that happen?!
The financialization of housing is part of it, absolutely. There’s no single answer, or root cause.
Making mortgages fungible and tradable started us down this path. It worked in making mortgages more available and less expensive, until it didn’t. Affordable shelter is what enabled the mobility that drove the post-WW 2 growth of the middle class. Now it’s at the core of its decline.
Tiny homes can and should be part of the mosaic of options, but dint work for most families, given their size.
We need a mosaic of housing options. And education at all levels about how to manage responsible growth.