Ask HN: Why the myth about housing unaffordability in the US?

1 point

2 years ago

I have seen a persistent trend of comments talking about housing unaffordability in the US for the last 5-10 years. The reasons cited are NIMBYs, Black Rock and other institutions, Chinese buyers, greedy Boomers etc.

However, the data says otherwise.

1. Since 2015, Homeownership Rate in the United States (https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/RHORUSQ156N) has fluctuated around the average of what it has been since 1965.

2. Since 2015, Monthly Supply of New Houses in the United States (https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/MSACSR) is at or above the average of what it has been since 1965 (modulo pandemic years).

3. Even to account for the selection bias of techies on this site from expensive regions, homeownership rate in California has been pretty flat since 1960's (https://www.ppic.org/blog/homeownership-trends-in-california/)

So is it just a phenomenon that those who cannot buy are more prone to complain and those who can don't bother to participate in such discussions?

16 comments

16 comments