The “affordable” housing thing seems like such a misdirection. I can’t help but daydream that some moneyed interest somewhere fans those flames, as it looks like a dead end that can absorb endless fervor.

You know what you do if you want an affordable car? You buy used. I think most people understand Ford is never going to build another a car that costs $10k brand new, and the last new car near that price barely sold because it was so stripped.

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Retric 3 hours ago | parent | next [-]

Houses don’t shrink as they age.

When everything is built huge you don’t end up with homes that are cheap to heat, cool, or maintain. That’s why building affordable houses is actually a real issue.

What’s really dumb is the average number of people living in a house has tanked over time but the median new home just keeps getting larger. In an efficient market you’d expect new homes to match what buyers want, but regulatory capture has severely distorted the market.

	▲	paulryanrogers 3 hours ago \| parent [-]
		What makes me crazy is these big houses aren't even that nice. They don't have significantly more rooms. It's all just stretched out to maximize sq ft for minimal costs. Sometimes with so many cut corners they're unsafe. So if you have a big family or multigenerational needs then often you have to do significant remodeling or sell anyway.

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rapidaneurism an hour ago | parent | prev | next [-]

If a gornment changed policy to make houses depreciate like cars, it would not be a government for long.

And the car analogy is n9t fitting, unless we talk about cars bundled with the parking spot. But then they would not depreciate that much, and the banger with a parking spot in Manhattan would cost more than the Ferrari that could only park in shitsville.

	▲	km3r 39 minutes ago \| parent [-]
		The property a home sits on and the property a car sits on would depreciate the same. But in reality neither has to depreciate, just stop growing at these insane rates. Below the cost of inflation, until the average worker can afford a home again.

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gruez 4 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

>The “affordable” housing thing seems like such a misdirection. I can’t help but daydream that some moneyed interest somewhere fans those flames, as it looks like a dead end that can absorb endless fervor.

Do you really need a conspiracy by "moneyed interest" when the general public is perfectly happy to support similarly bad policies like rent control?

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WarmWash 4 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

It's almost like "affordable hosuing" are the vacancies that the people moving into shiny new homes leave behind.