There are a lot of conspiratorial comments blaming everyone from investors and speculators to contractors and developers. The reality is that it's largely homeowners and the government to blame. The number of homes bought by investors is a rounding error. And developers will build homes as long as there is profit margin.
The government (and society) turned housing into a retirement plan. We decided to enact policies to push people onto the "housing ladder". We confused cause and effect, and the result is the largest misallocation of capital in human history. Blame NIMBYs and ZIRP. Want to get rid of speculators? Stop making houses an investable asset. People should not be relying on a commodity for their retirement.
In Germany there's no such thing as a "housing ladder," and yet the situation is much worse here than in the US. I don't think the housing ladder can be blamed alone.
There are a lot of conspiratorial comments blaming everyone from investors and speculators to contractors and developers. The reality is that it's largely homeowners and the government to blame. The number of homes bought by investors is a rounding error. And developers will build homes as long as there is profit margin.
The government (and society) turned housing into a retirement plan. We decided to enact policies to push people onto the "housing ladder". We confused cause and effect, and the result is the largest misallocation of capital in human history. Blame NIMBYs and ZIRP. Want to get rid of speculators? Stop making houses an investable asset. People should not be relying on a commodity for their retirement.