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I would think that 40 years of homelessness and getting worse every decade is pretty absolute. In fact, with house prices and rents as high as they ever were and going even higher, the chance that Social Security might be cut back, and food and other essentials going sky high, I'd say homelessness is going to be here for a long, long time unless we do something now. I also think eventually we're going to look back on today as the good old days in seeing people camped in tents on the streets compared to what's in the future. Things could truly get a whole lot worse and probably will.
I hear you. What I meant by homelessness not being "absolute" was that it's a dynamic and fluctuating problem which results from current systems and policies. Ups and downs, like everything else. Just because there's currently an intense and unprecedented number of homeless in major metros of the US doesn't mean it will always be that way, or that it will for sure get worse.
I've been homeless a couple times in my life, so I've been down and up. (not drugs or crime, just circumstances beyond my control)
Our system smells like ass and it's my hope a correction will take place sooner rather than later. Widespread civil unrest or disobedience, war, an actual pandemic, or a massive natural disaster will shake up the system enough to start over again and reset the culture. My fantasy, anyway.
"Stonks" are not the exotic plaything of a few exalted fortunates at the tippy-top. Their growth is not some untoward or phony increases, that then merit a righteous decrease, but the normal and proper consequence of human productivity, channeled into material betterment.
My personal attitude, is that once money is invested in the stock market, it remains ensconced there forever. It can not be withdrawn, say to buy a house. Others, perhaps in vast numbers, think differently. If they make ample money in the market, they withdraw some of it, to fund purchases such as houses.
This is probably true, though I'd also include the generation prior to the Boomers.
Private home-ownership really arose in mass numbers in the 20th century. Prior to that, most people were too poor to own real estate. The idea of every family owning the house in which it lives is only perhaps 5-6 generations old. We may very well find, that as the 21st century advances, it will come to resemble the 19th.
Might be true for the first half of the boomers; but, not the second half (Generation Jones). I really hate being lumped in with the real boomers (my older siblings -- totally not the same thing at all).
It's not, however he is irrelevant. Money darkens the heart and conscience and we just witnessed the result of that right here.
Why thank you very much. Perhaps you would like to compare our respective charitable gifting, or volunteer activities. It seems you would like me to signal my virtue.
Quote:
Originally Posted by heavymind
For $100,000 I could build a very comfortable and suitable home for myself in a matter of weeks. It's all the congestion, modern rules & regulations, and bureaucratic BS that is crushing this simple process. People from 150 years ago are probably laughing at us in their graves.
It might sadden you to learn that someone with a "darkened heart and conscience" holds the same view. Here's some supporting evidence:
Utah-based developer Dell Loy Hansen has been working with a non-profit to build new housing in Kiev, Ukraine. They recently announced they had completed 82 houses in four and a half months. With bombs falling on them and a difficult labor market because anybody able bodied is in the war.
Eighty-two houses in 22 weeks.
Someone I know spent two years and $15,000 in flood plain engineering just to get the permit to build a garage.
Fifteen-thousand dollars & two years - just to get a permit to build a garage.
Think of that stark contrast: in Kiev, in a war zone with missiles flying, A US developer was able to completely build 82 houses from scratch in 22 weeks.
I suspect the approval process in Kiev didn’t get bogged down in traffic counts, dark sky movements, the location of pickleball courts, NIMBYs, and green tree-huggers who want everyone to live like Little House On The Prairie and for whom all development is considered evil.
Yes, there is a role for governmental regulation in real estate development, but the US' system is broken beyond belief.
My personal attitude, is that once money is invested in the stock market, it remains ensconced there forever. It can not be withdrawn, say to buy a house. Others, perhaps in vast numbers, think differently. If they make ample money in the market, they withdraw some of it, to fund purchases such as houses.
There is a third alternative to generate cash for some people: borrowing against the value of highly appreciated equities, in contrast to selling the stock & incurring the tax.
Think of that stark contrast: in Kiev, in a war zone with missiles flying, A US developer was able to completely build 82 houses from scratch in 22 weeks.
And I bet they didn't cost half a million dollars each, either.
Meanwhile, we have people in the US building their own villages...tents on sidewalks...because all other options became cost-prohibitive.
Location: Sarasota/ Bradenton - University Pkwy area
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It comes back to supply and demand, with a few other factors added in.
The supply of single family homes for sales in many areas is lower than the current demand for housing, which pushes up prices until the prices reach a point that demand drops off again.
Investors, including many REITs (Real Estate Investment Trusts), many of those on a national level, have been snapping up single family homes for several years now -- often beating out other buyers with all cash, no contingency bids. Those investors are now using those purchased homes for rental properties, taking that potential real estate inventory off the table.
To some extent, baby boomers are also contributing to the lack of home inventory as many are preferring to "age in place" vs selling and moving into condos or some sort of senior living arrangement. Also contributing are those home owners who have refinanced in the past few years, who find themselves staying in place rather than taking on higher interest rates to move.
Then there's the "high" interest rates. Although 7-8% interest rates seem high to current home buyers, historically those rates could be called average. Still, homeowners with 3-4% mortgages are in no hurry to move and pay close to 8% rates instead.
As builders face increasing land prices/ labor / materials, new home construction is now often targeted at more affluent buyers, so is not affordable for many potential buyers.
Price increases have slowed substantially in my area of SW Florida, dropping slightly in some cases, but experts are saying it's very doubtful we will see any significant price drops due to the number of buyers still sitting on the sidelines, waiting for more properties to come on the market.
Also, it's predicted that the Federal Reserve may start lowering interest rates, starting in the spring of 2024. Any drop in interest rates will encourage more buyers to enter the market.
So those buyers hoping for a huge shake up in the real estate market may find themselves disappointed with the 2024 real estate market.
It comes back to supply and demand, with a few other factors added in.
The supply of single family homes for sales in many areas is lower than the current demand for housing, which pushes up prices until the prices reach a point that demand drops off again.
Investors, including many REITs (Real Estate Investment Trusts), many of those on a national level, have been snapping up single family homes for several years now -- often beating out other buyers with all cash, no contingency bids. Those investors are now using those purchased homes for rental properties, taking that potential real estate inventory off the table.
To some extent, baby boomers are also contributing to the lack of home inventory as many are preferring to "age in place" vs selling and moving into condos or some sort of senior living arrangement. Also contributing are those home owners who have refinanced in the past few years, who find themselves staying in place rather than taking on higher interest rates to move.
Then there's the "high" interest rates. Although 7-8% interest rates seem high to current home buyers, historically those rates could be called average. Still, homeowners with 3-4% mortgages are in no hurry to move and pay close to 8% rates instead.
As builders face increasing land prices/ labor / materials, new home construction is now often targeted at more affluent buyers, so is not affordable for many potential buyers.
Price increases have slowed substantially in my area of SW Florida, dropping slightly in some cases, but experts are saying it's very doubtful we will see any significant price drops due to the number of buyers still sitting on the sidelines, waiting for more properties to come on the market.
Also, it's predicted that the Federal Reserve may start lowering interest rates, starting in the spring of 2024. Any drop in interest rates will encourage more buyers to enter the market.
So those buyers hoping for a huge shake up in the real estate market may find themselves disappointed with the 2024 real estate market.
I hear you. What I meant by homelessness not being "absolute" was that it's a dynamic and fluctuating problem which results from current systems and policies. Ups and downs, like everything else. Just because there's currently an intense and unprecedented number of homeless in major metros of the US doesn't mean it will always be that way, or that it will for sure get worse.
I've been homeless a couple times in my life, so I've been down and up. (not drugs or crime, just circumstances beyond my control)
Our system smells like ass and it's my hope a correction will take place sooner rather than later. Widespread civil unrest or disobedience, war, an actual pandemic, or a massive natural disaster will shake up the system enough to start over again and reset the culture. My fantasy, anyway.
Thank you for clarifying that.
I've been homeless twice in my life and lived for seven years in a SRO, a single room with kitchenette and shared bath and that sucked almost as much as being homeless. I've finally got my feet under me but I doubt I'll ever be financially secure in the way most retirees are today. I'll always be turning off the heat at night because I can't afford to leave it on and I'll always be putting off going to the doctor or the dentist. I look at my my mom when she was my age and she had a nice house, savings, no problem at all with medical bills, no robbing Peter to pay Paul for glasses, etc. And she never worked a day in her life after she got married. And as alarming as what I'm going through, I know the generations following me already have it worse.
I also hope a correction comes sooner rather than later because the longer it takes to arrive, the worse it's going to be.
And as alarming as what I'm going through, I know the generations following me already have it worse..
Overpopulation. More competing for resources - jobs, housing, material goods - and increasing exponentially at a constant rate. Those fortunate enough to have found themselves in a comfortable position aren't going to jeopardize their safety nets. That leaves the rest of us to compete for whatever's left and why our numbers are sorely overdue for a correction.
But that's a discussion for a separate thread.
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