Is the problem actually lack of homes, or is it just astronomical prices blocking people out? So hard to buy a house when you need to pay at least 25k over asking and some rental company is also bidding on the house, paying full cash, and waiving inspections and appraisals.
The problem is actually institutional landlords buying every home they could get. That drove up prices to the highest points their algorithms determined each market could handle. They're the ones outbidding everyone paying in cash. They're sitting on the sidelines now securing deals with Wallstreet for hundreds of billions of dollars to get back in the action as soon as they think prices are at a good price again, just to drive all the prices right back up.
The derivatives market is larger by multiple orders of magnitude than the actual world economy. Wall Street can print itself as much money as it wants. They can totally buy as many homes as they want to, leveraging their current assets to infinity.
Is the problem actually lack of homes
The problem is actual lack of homes where the housing demand is, because of zoning codes restricting density. There are plenty of single-family houses in the exurbs, but not nearly enough du-/tri-/quad-plexes and rowhouses just outside of downtowns.
Is the problem actually lack of homes, or is it just astronomical prices blocking people out? So hard to buy a house when you need to pay at least 25k over asking and some rental company is also bidding on the house, paying full cash, and waiving inspections and appraisals.
The problem is actually institutional landlords buying every home they could get. That drove up prices to the highest points their algorithms determined each market could handle. They're the ones outbidding everyone paying in cash. They're sitting on the sidelines now securing deals with Wallstreet for hundreds of billions of dollars to get back in the action as soon as they think prices are at a good price again, just to drive all the prices right back up.
The derivatives market is larger by multiple orders of magnitude than the actual world economy. Wall Street can print itself as much money as it wants. They can totally buy as many homes as they want to, leveraging their current assets to infinity.
The problem is actual lack of homes where the housing demand is, because of zoning codes restricting density. There are plenty of single-family houses in the exurbs, but not nearly enough du-/tri-/quad-plexes and rowhouses just outside of downtowns.
It is absolutely the second one.