Comment by chiefalchemist
2 years ago
Helpful, I guess. But it feels like a case where aggregated data makes for a better narrative.
For example, the article says, "About 26.6 percent of the nation’s vacant housing units are actively available for rent." Does that mean the landlords are having trouble finding qualified tenants? If so, then the real issue is the disconnect between inventory and what those seeking shelter can afford.
A $5000 p/m unit being held back if 99% of those needing a place to live can't afford it.
Housing availablity is like jobs creation. X new jobs? Ok. Whatever. But at what rate of pay? With what benefits? A job is not a transparent unit of measure. The devil in these things is in the details.
If you look at the report, there are a few cities like Miami that reasonably fit a fairly HCOL area narrative with good growth prospects. And some other, like Raleigh, that are smaller markets but have had pretty good growth in tech and otherwise. But there are a lot of cities on that list like New Orleans and Memphis where real estate affordability is presumably in the context of mediocre employment prospects and low wages. Housing affordability is almost always going to be an issue if you can't get a job in the location.
> Housing affordability is almost always going to be an issue if you can't get a job in the location.
Perhaps. But supply (as in supply and demand) plays a key role as well. The ratio between higher-end and "affordable" seems to keep trending in the wrong direction.
I'm not suggesting everyone should own a home, that's impracticable and economically dangerous. On the otherhand, too much of a resource (e.g., hoysing) controlled by too few hands has serious economic consequences. Perhaps, eventually, sociopolitical consequences.
To put numbers to it, according to Zillow, the average New Orleans home value is $263,349, down 8.3% over the past year and goes to pending in around 53 days. (That's the city at the top of the list.) Obviously there are some large historic homes in Uptown that go for a lot more than that, but that doesn't really line up with the typical "housing in unaffordable" storyline except to the degree that--as is almost certainly the case in New Orleans--the job market is pretty poor in general.