Why housing prices are so high:

[Matt Collins]

[Brian4Liberty]

Supply and demand. Monetary inflation. Other details like timber shortages are temporary.

Not to beat a dead horse, but the biggest contributor to increased demand is immigration and foreign investment.

[Pauls' Revere]

the biggest contributor to increased demand is immigration and foreign investment.

And that contributes to the low income housing and rezoning laws. Just watch what happens to Atherton, CA. It'll be the proverbial Canary in the coal mine.

[Brian4Liberty]

And that contributes to the low income housing and rezoning laws. Just watch what happens to Atherton, CA. It'll be the proverbial Canary in the coal mine.

That would be interesting, if they start to move the masses into the billionaire’s neighborhood.

[dannno]

[kahless]

Supply and demand. Monetary inflation. Other details like timber shortages are temporary.

Not to beat a dead horse, but the biggest contributor to increased demand is immigration and foreign investment.

I would put first in that list large real estate investors buying up massive amounts of properties and intentionally leaving them vacant to create an artificial shortage to increase real estate values and rents. Foreign investment and immigration only exacerbates that problem.

Monetary inflation, only if you compare the dollar to the last 50 years. The recent rise in prices are just not at the magnitude of inflation we are seeing.

This tactic is the worst evil and detrimental to the future of free market Capitalism which is something we do not really have but will get the blame. It is creating conditions for what Communist and Socialist revolutions are made of.

We are all going to continue to lose our freedoms do to the extreme greed and hatred that the elite class has for everyone but themselves. They want us to own nothing and be happy slaves to them.

[Snowball]

The central bank and all its member branches, the federal, state and municipal governments, the politicians and the foundations, the financial elites and the conspirators that direct these establishment power structures all want to price out the working family. The objective is to possess the means by which the population's needs are distributed. That is done primarily via the three most critical needs - security, housing and food.

Loan Penetration by Banks destroys home ownership rates worldwide.
http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthr...ation+destroys

[Brian4Liberty]

I would put first in that list large real estate investors buying up massive amounts of properties and intentionally leaving them vacant to create an artificial shortage to increase real estate values and rents. Foreign investment and immigration only exacerbates that problem.

Monetary inflation, only if you compare the dollar to the last 50 years. The recent rise in prices are just not at the magnitude of inflation we are seeing.

This tactic is the worst evil and detrimental to the future of free market Capitalism which is something we do not really have but will get the blame. It is creating conditions for what Communist and Socialist revolutions are made of.

We are all going to continue to lose our freedoms do to the extreme greed and hatred that the elite class has for everyone but themselves. They want us to own nothing and be happy slaves to them.

I am not sure where the big real estate investment funds actually buy. It doesn't seem to be residential houses, at least not in expensive areas. Maybe it’s more condo complexes or apartments. Those can stay vacant because they keep the rents at a premium.

It used to be investors from China who would buy residential houses (for cash) and leave them empty. They didn't rent them out. It was simply a store of wealth, like they do in the ghost cities of China.

The more recent trend is Chinese immigrant tech workers who invest in one home at a time making the most of primary residence tax laws. They buy a house, make it their primary residence for exactly one year (whether they are there or not), and then buy another house and move there, and rent out the one they just left. They repeat the process, buying as many houses as they can afford. The catch is that when they want to sell a house, they again have to make that their primary residence for a year before selling. The good part is that the houses are not vacant for long, and it is not taking away from rental supply.

[Brian4Liberty]

Around the 11:20 mark, he mentions Asian investors buying homes in California. Which means that in those cases, interest rates and local salaries are not a limiting factor. They just buy at whatever price. This is one thing that drives houses beyond the reach of people making local wages.

[DamianTV]

I think this is the last boom bust cycle, and those who are in charge of lending money are trying to bilk the last squeeze out of the people. 2008 Repeat all over again.