- cross-posted to:
- housing_bubble_2@lemmy.world
- cross-posted to:
- housing_bubble_2@lemmy.world
We’ve been dealing with high inflation in this economy over the last several years, with everything from groceries to new vehicles to construction supplies soaring in price.
But for one item in particular — houses — we’ve seen such sharp inflation over decades that it’s starting to change the landscape of American economic life. What happens in society, and in history, when costs for basic necessities, like shelter and food, shoot up in price?
Let’s start by going back four decades, to 1984. The movie “Ghostbusters” was a blockbuster that year. And the median price of a new home wasn’t so scary: $79,900 in the fourth quarter of 1984, according to data from the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Since then, consumer prices overall have risen 203%, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics information and analysis section. Meanwhile, the median price of a new home was $417,700 in the fourth quarter of 2023. That works out to an inflation rate of 423%.
You must log in or register to comment.
the rhetorical question: “Are you better off relative to previous times? Housing leads the list of things where the answer to that question today for many people is: ‘No, I’m not better off.’”
There, now you’ve read the article.
Seriously, what a shit article. The only thing interesting was the history about mothers rioting. That’s super badass
I always tell people to look at the average salary and home price for a year and calculate how many hours it’d take to buy a home. Then do the same for now and from the 70s, think it was almost a 5.5x increase. Inflation is fine when it’s across the board, but because salaries aren’t keeping up it’s creating bigger and bigger gaps.
It’s ridiculous too because it’s creating whats essentially a reverse wealth transfer. Millennials & GenZ have to give all the money they earn (doing actual labour) to people who did absolutely nothing to earn that money. Housing as an investment doesn’t make sense from any perspective, it’s one step removed from a pyramid scheme. Prices cannot keep going up indefinitely when no value is being created.
God this shit makes me so fucking angry. Our generation has been fucked by the previous generation and they won’t fix it they’ve caused because it hurts their bottom line.
Ban corporate ownership of residential housing and implement a land value tax. Problem solved. Won’t happen though, probably shouldn’t even give a shit to keep writing this.
Back in 1960, the US minimum wage was $1.00/hour and the price of the average home was $11,000.00 In those days.
note =if you feel the need to say that houses are bigger today, or we have better technology, please add how inflation was the driver that made that stuff happen.
note =if you feel the need to say that houses are bigger today… please add how inflation was the driver that made that stuff happen.
Zoning was the other driver that made that happen. When developers are required by law to buy a relatively large, expensive piece of land to put a single house on, they have to make the house big and/or luxurious in order to be able to sell it for enough to make a profit.
If you let them subdivide into smaller lots, or build multiple units on the lot, they could charge less per dwelling unit.
(Of course, suburban governments have historically refused to do that because then “the wrong people” (read: blacks, who are poorer than whites on average because of previous institutional racism) would be able to afford them.)
read: blacks, who are poorer than whites on average because of previous institutional racism)
Not to mention current institutional racism.
And while we’re at it I think “black people” is better than saying “blacks” (though that doesn’t sound as bad as “the blacks”).
I’m pretty sure poor people are discriminated against for being poor.
In fact, it’s probably the biggest discrimination around in terms of pain caused.
A lot of the pain inflicted against afro-americans comes via the mechanisms that discriminate against poor people, which together with the actual historical racism (along with some current racism) makes sure they’re kept down from generation to generation.
How about we just go with boy?
W00t! I make $22 and just bought a house for 100,000!
Things are finally looking up for ol Gil
That seems not at all unreasonable compared to other salaries/prices today. You must live in a very affordable area.
Fucking seriously… I make $30/hr and can’t even dream about buying in my area… Anywhere in my area… Hours and hours away, still not even close. The closest area to me that I could consider is roughly 6 hours away…
Goverment controlled pricing would definitely help. Tie the price of homes to be no more than 5-10% of the tax value. If you really want to sell a home for 1 million, then pay a property tax close to that.
It’s not just the US.
In my home country, Portugal, there is a massive house price bubble (especially in relation to the average incomes over here, which are much lower), so over half of young University students are leaving the country when they graduate, the average age for people leaving their parent’s home is 34 and young adults have children later and have fewer of them, all in one of the most aged countries of Europe.
Whilst I don’t expect all of the same problems in the US, things like delayed parenthood and lower birth rates tend to really fuckup up the Economy over the course of a couple of decades since they lead to falling populations and importing people from countries with lower educational standards doesn’t exactly help a country’s Economy keep high-value-added industries running.
I wonder what all these countries with rising housing costs have in common.
In my studies, the acceleration of housing inflation began around 1973. Back then a house was about $30K.
Let’s start by going back four decades, to 1984. The movie “Ghostbusters” was a blockbuster that year. And the median price of a new home wasn’t so scary: $79,900 in the fourth quarter of 1984, according to data from the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
