• SCB@lemmy.world
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    11 months ago

    Incentivizing people to build housing is a good thing, actually.

      • SCB@lemmy.world
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        11 months ago

        Honestly, wood isn’t that valuable.

        Also we have an insane shortage of housing

          • SCB@lemmy.world
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            11 months ago

            Yes lack of supply with an increase in demand yields higher prices.

            • Ryantific_theory@lemmy.world
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              11 months ago

              The issue isn’t really supply though, it’s that houses are held as investments, not as property, and it massively inflated their value. That’s created a lot of pressures that benefit from desperate homebuyers.

              Twenty percent of homes last quarter were bought by investors compared to ten percent in 2010. Can you guess what happens when a fifth of home purchases are intended to generate more profit? Rent goes up, houses are flipped and sold at even higher rates, and homebuyers are squeezed further out by deeper wallets. New home builders intentionally reduced production because letting demand grow makes people more likely to purchase new homes, which are sold at a premium over existing homes. We’re manufacturing just over half of the homes per month that we did back in 2005, and whenever sales are too slow (like in 2018) they just reduce completions until the market is forced to buy at the prices they want.

              The moment housing became an investment instead of a place to live it steadily screwed over the market. If too many residential homes are released onto the market investment groups lose potential profit, but strategic purchasing and selling can maintain rising prices and steady profits. Not to mention that the collective investment spending of a couple hundred billion a year on buying up residential properties has a vested interest to ensure the supply doesn’t ever catch up and reduce the value of their investment.

              Basically the housing market has been a disaster for decades, and it happily continues downhill.

              • SCB@lemmy.world
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                11 months ago

                Houses are held as investments because homes are good investments. Homes are good investments because supply is too low

                • Ryantific_theory@lemmy.world
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                  11 months ago

                  That’s… A truly remarkable perspective lol. I just told you that the supply is artificially constricted to inflate prices and gouge profit, and your response is “that’s what makes it good.”

                  What’s next, investment groups buying up a significant percentage of non-perishable foods if it’ll make “good investments because supply is too low”? Basic necessities of life shouldn’t be investments because supply and demand aren’t really relevant when you need something. It’s just extortion with extra steps.

                  A huge portion of the population is choosing not to have kids because houses are too expensive, and even if they manage to get one, raising a family on top of that is too expensive. When investments are negatively impacting the entire population of a country, that’s a bad thing.

                  • SCB@lemmy.world
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                    11 months ago

                    I never said it was good. Homes shouldn’t be investments. Ideally, they’d depreciate in value without renovation.

                    The reason they appreciate in value is we don’t build enough.

        • ThatWeirdGuy1001@sh.itjust.works
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          11 months ago

          wood isn’t that valuable.

          Bitch what?? You think trees aren’t valuable??

          Just because a corporate asshole doesn’t put high monetary value to fuckin trees don’t mean they aren’t the literal biggest focal point for almost all human advancement.

          Nigga you think we’d be even close to where we are without wood?

          Not just that but wood is a nonrenewable fuckin resource bitch. It don’t come back in our lifetime dumbass. Yeah it’s fucking natural but so is me ripping your asshole out your mouth bitch.

          • SCB@lemmy.world
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            11 months ago

            Some trees are valuable, especially at certain times of year. Wood is hardly scarce.

            You seem to not understand the difference between important and valuable. Grasshoppers are important, but not very valuable.

            • ThatWeirdGuy1001@sh.itjust.works
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              11 months ago

              Tell all that to deforestation bruh. Tell that to the fuckin Amazon which is being cut and burned for fuckin money. Tell that to the trees that take centuries to fuckin grow meanwhile we cuttin them down by the millions.

              If you ain’t seein it yet you’ll see it soon, but we need these fuckin things.