I find it interesting that you of all people posted this. You should understand that the factors driving house price increases stem mainly from the prevelance of negative real interest rates. And then secondary local factors related to zoning and building costs
Ultimately: - Low interest rates increase the availability of borrowed money - Which drive down the price of bonds - Which force savers into speculation - Which inflates values in equities - Which forces alternative investments - Which created the REIT - Which allows for any investor to speculate on the domiciles of leasers. So I wouldn't say that housing price increases stem "mainly" from negative interest rates. I would say that they stem ultimately from negative interest rates. But that's pretty much inside baseball. We could go further: housing price increases stem ultimately from the repeal of Glass-Steagall. I'll say this: I spent the pandemic on the "capital" side of the labor/capital divide and lemme tell ya - once you get over the quarter million dollar hump, you get allllllll the cheat codes. That isn't ultimately due to the repeal of Glass-Steagall, it's ultimately due to the fact that Capital has been clawing back every advancement Labor has made since the advent of the cotton gin. None of which changes any of the assertions of the piece.You should understand that the factors driving house price increases stem mainly from the prevelance of negative real interest rates.
I’m not sure what you mean by “ quarter million dollar hump” if you mean annual income then yeah ok I get that. We’re getting close to that and at that income you are rocking it. Suddenly childcare becomes painful but affordable, college is a minor blip and you can buy a house every decade or so for cash. At this point it becomes a question of getting the spot not really affording it. Quarter mil Capitol barely gets you out of paying pmi on an average house in king county, it might not even if the house sells for over asking and you need to cover the difference.