Will the government ever do anything to help solve the housing crisis in the US?

[Hardkill]

 

[sholomar]

Canada is worse as far as pricing goes. Its a combination of bad zoning laws, under building, and investors including foreigners buying as investments. All three can be dealt with if we deal with human nature.

[Zega]

We would have to start with people being allowed to buy property and charge rent. There's a politician in my county who thrives on doing exactly that and there is 0 incentive for him and people like him to stop. Easy passive income while investing little to nothing into the property they own and raising rent annually as if wages were also going up. 

[DocWatts]

The heart of the issue is that, just like with healthcare and education in the US, there's incompatible incentives between housing as a human essential, and actors who treat housing as nothing more than a financial investment.

Regulation of the housing market is the only way that this gets solved, so that regular people aren't competing with investment companies to buy homes. Either outright ban investment companies from purchasing homes, or introduce a cap on how much housing in a given locality can be sold to buyers who aren't using it as thier primary residence. Alternatively, introduce a progressive property tax which scales up with the amount of homes a person or company owns.

Additionally, loosen zoning laws to allow for multifamily homes, since his will allow for higher housing density (this more affordable housing) in a given area.

 

Edited November 2, 2023 by DocWatts