Mega-landlords are buying up all the vacant single family homes. How is this going to end?

Photo above - hints of America's looming housing affordability crisis began to emerge in films like 2004's "Napoleon Dynamite".

If you believe the stock market is in a bubble, you’re not alone. Investors are pivoting to throw money at single family homes. Buying them up en-masse and renting them out to workers who are being priced out of the un-affordable home market. (see link below)

So far so good. All of this is legal and above board. Corporations and private investors are allowed to buy just about anything and run it as a business: lawn mowing services, burger joints, bodegas, rental cars, rental homes. So what’s the problem?

Not the companies buying those homes. The real problem is the lack of new housing construction. THAT’s what keeps home prices skyrocketing.

The US population continues to grow. By at least 15 million since 2020. Even though that figure doesn’t properly account for undocumented migrants. Over 7 million foreign born seekers of affordable housing arrived during the Biden administration. But let’s stick with the lowball/official/incorrect 15 million population growth number. Would it surprise you to hear that even though population is going up around 3 million a year, America is only building about 1 million housing units a year? See second link below.

Okay, so population is growing 3X faster than available bedrooms. Is anyone still confused about the reason for unaffordable housing?

Okay, I see the socialists jumping up and down, wi;d eyed. Like NYC’s democrat mayor nominee and presumptive winner, Zohran Kwame Mamdani. Rent controls are the answer, he assures us.

This is a solution that immediately appeals to the ignorant, who know how much rent they are paying on the first of the month, but not about the mismatch between population growth and home construction. Sorry Zohran, you’re a moron . . .

Somebody else is advocating a massive housing construction project by the government. That has a poor track record too. Google things like “Cabrini Green in Chicago” which became an instant high-rise slum. And those new DC funded apartments for those needing housing assistance have a staggering construction cost of $1.2 million each – more than $1,000 per square foot.

The most promising solution could be to return to what worked in the 50’s, 60’s, 70’s etc. Make it easier for homebuilders to actually build homes. Instead of throwing up so many permits, zoning obstacles, and government agency reviews that they give up and turn to buying up stuff that was built in the past.

I’m just sayin’ . . .

Lawmakers say mega-landlords are snatching up the American dream — leaving renters struggling to get ahead

how many homes were built since 2020 - Search