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Cake day: April 20th, 2026

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  • Tango@piefed.catoWork Reform@lemmy.worldHousing prices
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    2 days ago

    I assume it’s mainly that the amount of people went up more quickly than the amount of homes. Demand goes up while supply stays low, and the result is predictable.

    I also assume that this is driven by perverse incentive: pre-existing homeowners want their property to appreciate in value, and so they will oppose attempts to build in order to drive scarcity. They will be particularly incentivized to do this if they bought the property as a speculative investment instead of as a home for themselves.

    This type of rampant speculation is driven by the market being largely unregulated. Everywhere in the world but especially in the USA, people are forced to seek reliable high-yield investment in order to fund non-state pensions and afford a decent retirement. Governments desperately need to aid this in order for society to not collapse, and so they are held hostage by their own economies, forced to clear a path for pension funds to seek as much profit as possible.