Global housing crisis: are we heading for disaster? | Business Beyond

[@dwnews]

How is the local housing situation developing in your area? Are you seeing it becoming more problematic?

[@iche9373]

Just go to China, they have millions of empty Houses.

[@theodhorshkembi8941]

I think Greece has a very cheap housing ,I I remember correctly is 20% below market . That is changing very fust (especially in particular places , and it will be a problem in the future .

[@huseyinbaba8140]

In pforzheim a unkown city near stuttgart u have to pay like 1 mio. for a normal But new one Family house nothing special Not to big….

[@misterfunnybones]

When my father bought his house in 1968, it was 2X his annual income ($14,000 X 2 = $28,000). That same home, now mine, is now 60X my annual income ($50,000 X 60 = $3,000,000)!

[@BaumerPaulGefreiter]

In my country (Czech Republic) residential real estate is still cheap except for the 3-4 biggest urban centres (like Prague or Brno). In villages rotting heaps of superfluous real estate wherever you look (with the exception of the strip bordering Germany and Austria).

[@evantimms2809]

Every one of these scenarios have one thing in common. Housing is seen as an investment, rather than a need

[@jayfraxtea]

Every coin has two sides... at least in the real world.

[@michlblacksmith]

I totally agree and it seems like there is no difference between a dodgecoin or house. Everything is an investment and prices are driven solely by expectations. I hope for more regulation that it will be more of a commodity than an investment.

[@haydenharris3059]

Correct Evan

[@maddoo23]

@@jayfraxtea What does your folk wisdom say about houses? How many sides does it have?

[@casualbrowser407]

Also - they all attract and actively admit immigrants (Berlin, Dublin, HK) even illegal ones. With the exception of .... Japan. And lo and behold - no housing crisis there. So in addition of "build more homes" there's another part of the solution - limit new arrivals.

[@nicholasc.5944]

I'm watching this 3 days from being homeless in Dublin, pray for me

[@paudiepower1407]

Take care Nicholas

[@nicholasc.5944]

I found a room through a friend of a friend for 550 euros a month

[@averegeyoutuber9133]

@@Sirikazy I had no idea Dublin was a part of Berlin.

[@zareeftashfique8168]

You got this buddy ♥️from Vancouver

[@bernahorozlar8036]

i hope you’re okay mam

[@jonc67uk]

It's one way to completely kill consumerism. Who's going to be buying stuff if they're spending all their income on rent & fuel bills, not to mention escalating food prices.

[@johnwong5317]

The problem is lots of these lands are own by elitist reveal by Pandora's paper that bought them as investment as part of money laundering. Quite frankly, if the rent is too high, then you have homeless which cost the cities more. Lots of big cities in the world where Chinese use money laundering to invest and make it impossible for normal people to even purchase theirs properties. Or even the case homeless in California where even a programmer who made 110k a year and he lives in a truck because it costs around 4,000+ just to rent an apartment and he prefer to save money to later move out of California to his dream home elsewhere.

[@NotShowingOff]

Deflationary outcomes.

[@theeraphatsunthornwit6266]

The recipient of said money, of course

[@Hession0Drasha]

Population crash will be caused by this

[@jonc67uk]

@@theeraphatsunthornwit6266 the elites just don't buy enough to make up the shortfall. Good for the super yacht market, bad for everything else...

[@jose.salgado]

We need more houses but also more regulations. If a single investment company can own thousands of properties and keep aquiring more and more they are essentially scalping the market. Even if we increase the supply the problem will persist if corporate landlords don't have any sort of limits that stops them from absorbing that supply.

[@bipolarbear-40N]

This right here is the problem.

[@tibsyy895]

You can't save as fast as the home prices going up! Insane!

[@DiederikCA]

@John Z You're wrong. In my country of the Netherlands, I'm earning an above average wage of 45k. Net it is around 30k. Im paying my rent at about 900 incl utilities, so 10.8k annually. Medical bills 1.2k. That leaves me with 18k. Lets say i can live at bare minimum 3k and save 15k. The average house in NL is 410k, last year it was 333k, the year before 308k, 287k before that. Tell me again, with my max saving at 15k, how will i be able to catch up with the market? The market is rotten, and cheap money is to blame. Cheap money that is mostly accessable to large institutions and not normal people.

[@deepseadarew6012]

When buying a home is an investment rather than a basic human right, are we really surprised that lower income people are being pushed out of the market? Hello? It's not a savings problem, it's a systemic problem. The solutions are systemic changes. For centuries we concluded that some needs are basic human rights and the private market cannot manage them without causing human suffering, it's only a matter of time before housing is corrected. Quality food, clean water, access to education, and healthcare are human rights. Housing is too.

[@deepseadarew6012]

@John Z Your anecdotal evidence is irrelevant. So are your strawman attacks. Either the housing market is systemically broken, or according to you, suddenly humans suddenly got even lazier than they were decades ago. Do your own research, and you'll discover the housing market is definitely broken, and people have always been lazy. Your incessant need to convince everyone that the whole world became as lazy as your friends is what's dangerous. You offer no solutions to the housing market except to pick-yourself-up-by-the-bootstraps. Move over and leave the problems for people who actually care enough to do the research.

[@Pit5336]

I am paying rent for the past 15y yest I cannot get a mortgage for the same amount

[@leslielugosi]

@Ryan Clone my guess is Romania. Industry:English teacher. :)

[@Harry_S._]

The issue is the same all over the world: Housing is seen as an investment instead of a basic human need. This needs to change.

[@judyives1832]

We should seize the corporate office buildings of companies that don’t pay taxes and turn them into apartments. They have sat empty during covid and are just useless anyway. They are just a way for big corporations to show off how rich they are while paying their workers less than a living wage.

[@bactanite]

There are almost no places left in Canada that aren't affected by this problem. In Northern Ontario, where I live, people escaping the high housing costs of Toronto are causing housing prices to soar here and almost everywhere else in the province.

[@Jarod-vg9wq]

Ya man it’s getting crazy here.

[@richardnemeth5911]

Ontarians are running all over Canada, taking their capital from inflated houses to other provinces, causing inflation there. I feel bad for Canadians from rural areas and smaller cities where wages and expectations tend to be lower. It's pushing them out of the market as we speak.

[@richardnemeth5911]

If I wasn't tied to Toronto along with my wife by our careers, we wouldn't stick around here either. It's super inflated. But many ppl acted on this same consideration and that's why Canada is experiencing this phenomenon. It ain't right.

[@bactanite]

@@richardnemeth5911 I know a woman who wishes to move back to the town where I live, but she can't because the prices of apartments have doubled in the year since she left.

[@richardnemeth5911]

@@bactanite we hear in Toronto what's going on in the rural areas. Frankly it's sad. But nothing anyone can do. Covid is mostly the culprit to this. But it might shift back a bit. People made a rash decision to uproot and move away from Toronto because they thought working from home fulltime is going to be the new norm. However as the pandemic is slowly lifting, we can already see employers have a strong intention to bring people back to the office space in person. This wave of exodus will be a problem very soon for those who won't be able to maintain employment from rural Canada.

[@Denmangoat]

Consequences of Central banks artificially low interest rates coming to roost. All to prevent any drop in asset prices and protect those powerful asset holders.

[@tomlxyz]

No, it's not just protection of wealthy people but also the middle class who owns homes. Just think about what would happen if housing prices drop while people still have a mortgage with the higher valuation. You don't need to imagine, just look at how many people became homeless in 2008

[@cosmicllama6910]

@Fox which only further illustrates why houses should be HOMES and not investments. It shouldn't be normal that turning around and selling your house when you're old is a person's only chance at retirement.

[@juangomezfuentes8825]

Yeah, cheap loans are a big factor in the rise of the prizes.

[@exhibitit724]

Yes

[@milan51259]

You are wrong. It's politicians weakness not to raise interest rates. In capitalism when no growth happens anymore, it stagnates, people don't get jobs and especially in such a situation like Corona people become unemployed and companies fail. They didn't wanted that. Instead they since 2007 are printing money like there is no tomorrow. Where does this money, which is too much as it has been created not backed by work but artificially, go? Yes. Investments. Stocks and real estate. There can't be a bear market when you constantly pump money into economy. Not the rich are the problem, they just have more money to grow faster (poor people could also decide to buy for 200 USd for example stocks - they just don't do it, as they see it as "gamble"). Central banks are protecting the little man from himself. If capitalism would do, what it needs to do - go cyclically down - poor man would be furious and take on a weapon. Politicans fear the mob and because of that they print them even poorer.

[@dmytrokravets2264]

The reporter when talking about all these crazy prices - have a facial expression like he has bought 10 properties in Vancouver 20 years ago

[@backintimealwyn5736]

have you noticed the red scarf? The guy is thrilled because he gets to push his agenda. Not one word on inlfation/absence of salary increase. The problem is work does'nt pay anymore. Inflation is a normal process, salaries should go up too , but they don't. NOrmal people should be able to access private property and not massively depend on rent.

[@jathebest2835]

😂😂

[@whatsupbudbud]

@@backintimealwyn5736 He did mention that wages don't increase by as much.

[@edgregory1]

Because he is MSM (mainstream media).

[@weareallbornmad410]

@@backintimealwyn5736 What agenda?

[@PhilipMurray251]

I'm so thankful that my landlords are renting me a place to live in at a reasonable rate . Inflation is uncomfortable but i'm thankful that my job pays for my life.

[@Robertgriffinne]

You are lucky because rents are going up everywhere . Rent prices rose by 0.8% in june from a month earlier, according to the labor department it is the largest monthly gain since 1986.

[@wiebeplatt4749]

How can the typical family with average income afford a higher rate+ more expensive home? in my area multi generational home is becoming the norm . Don’t forget to add the inflation which just this week was 9.1 on the CPI , producers index 11.3, it’s going to be a rough ride for sure.

[@Natalieneptune469]

@@wiebeplatt4749 Time will tell how this period will treat people that never save, invest, lived beyond means, paycheck to paycheck, too many kids, too big of home, keeping up with the joneses with FOMO,YOLO, paying alimony, child support, etc

[@marianparker7502]

[@PhilipMurray251]

I raised all my rents at least 30% in the past year. You better hope your landlord doesn't catch on to reality.

[@bananabear009]

The root cause of the problem is there is no effective way to preserve people‘s wealth in a highly inflated economy. Thus, many turn to the property markets. I can’t see that change fundamentally without the economy deflate eventually. That‘s a real risk of our future.

[@SuperLusername]

Return to gold standard will deflate the economy

[@aalleexx.]

Very true. And most of us can’t afford to put a million dollars into stocks. So we put the majority of our savings into an investment that also keeps a roof over our head at the same time. Maybe governments should tackle the inflation of every commodity by returning to the gold standard rather than running on election promises to dismantle the one investment where us commoners have put our life savings into. Don’t spin this a story about the evil landlord or property investor vs the innocent tenant DW. This ultimately comes down to a story about the people vs big government.

[@SorbusAucubaria]

@@aalleexx. yep, people should have other income and security of wealth that isn't connected to real estate markets. If people had housing and income security from their jobs or from pensions they would not need to put all their wealth into real estate. the casino capitalism destroys people's ability to retain their wealth or gain wealth through work. Only people getting richer are those who are already rich and perhaps one lucky winner in the stock market lotteries.

[@bananabear009]

It's not a US problem. It's a genuinely global problem. China has empty flat that's more than enough to accommodate the entire German populations. It doesn't matter concrete, even properly built, can only last for a few decades. It used more cement in 3 years than the American in the entire 20th century. And the world call it the China miracle.

[@sjakie49]

Dude, they have 4 times the population and pulled more than half a billion people out of poverty. Within a just few decades, china grew from nothing into the major global superpower. I would rather be surprised if they would have used less concrete. Kinda unfair to compare China with a country that has already been the global hegemonist since ww2. A bullying country which could dictate and adapt international organisations and standards to its own taste. Its still trying with its carrier fleets in China's backgarden, but soon China will not allow the close proximity of rivalling militairy assets, just like how Americans would freak out if a Chinese carrier group would camp nearby the American shores, or put military assets in Cuba. How hypocritical?

[@studlytheknight]

I've been living in Japan for nearly a decade and have moved to 6 different cities all over the country. And while prices might be considered cheap by comparing to other countries just looking at the currency conversion it still feels expensive for many people living here. Salaries have been mostly stagnant for decades...

[@shizuokaBLUES]

Yes I live in Japan too, and my income hasn’t increased in 15 years. Any little minor salary increase is off set by taxes. And one thing about japan that doesn’t get discussed but that you and I know both know very well is that homes only depreciate here. With homes only going down in price as they age, very few people want to put money into them or their measly little yards , so we generally have neighborhoods that look drab or utilitarian at best and they just look dingier over time. It’s a big negative about living here. But at least there are always homes to live in.

[@TheTinKunt]

That little bit about “tokyo” at the end was really disappointing, and it had nothing to do with rising prices in cities, just empty houses in the countryside (empty because there are no jobs there). Meanwhile, housing prices ARE rising in tokyo, especially condos in the city, as I’ve been looking for a year. My building is up 50,000$ compared to 2019 and newer second hand condos are up 100,000.

[@sergey9986]

@@TheTinKunt It seems that the only way out there is to legally reinforce home office for where it applies. Japanese companies seem to dislike it pretty much.

[@michaeldugan505]

Property owner in Nara, Japan. If people are able to, there are a lot of cheap housing available just in the outskirts of a major city (I'm 30 min away from Osaka). My salary is modest and it is a great neighborhood!

[@ashkumar3871]

@@michaeldugan505 Great to hear that. Moving to Fukuoka in a few months as a student. If it goes well, I intend to settle there or elsewhere in Japan. Looking forward to not having to deal with Canada's insane housing market.

[@Viva-Persia]

thank you DW for giving coverage to such a critical issue.

[@scottyflintstone]

It was one sided infomercial for leftist. It made no attempt to engage the other side, and offered little insight into possible solutions. This whole channel is a joke

[@3XxhalloxX3]

@@scottyflintstone Impossible, Germans don't make jokes

[@temp0rand]

15 min and several major cities were covered including Japan's idiosyncratic problems. Infomercials sell stuff.

[@scottyflintstone]

@@temp0rand oh they are trying to sell something alright...sad that people can't see the angle

[@joeyjoey4661]

@@scottyflintstone 出去

[@maxs.8340]

This is happening in Limassol (Cyprus) now. Big businesses come here, employ highly-qualified specialists, and give them good salaries. And the local landlords increase the rent prices since these specialists can afford them. The solution seems to be simple: remote work. In this case, many well-paid people won't need to live in Limassol, Berlin, Vancouver, etc. And the market will adjust its appetites to meet the expectations of average people: shop assistants, janitors, and others who are "forced" to live in particular areas.

[@noseboop4354]

These remote workers with high salaries create other problems, namely they buy houses in cheaper less populated areas and drive up the costs/rents that the local population can hardly afford. Houses/rents have gone up 50% in the past 3 years in a nearby town of 50,000 people.

[@ralphemerson497]

If you became a highly qualified specialist with a high salary, I’d bet a paycheck you would buy one of these expensive flats in Limassol. So sounds like an issue of the doers of society making more money and living larger than life while the takers of society whine and cry wanting the same benefits without the same effort. I’m sure there’s plenty of affordable housing 60 kms outside of Limassol.

[@purplefabian]

🤑yes forex

[@tonios3]

Yes, big cities are overrated, why pay insane money to live between concrete blocks ?

[@maxs.8340]

@@ralphemerson497 Much closer: Cyprus is very small, and 60 km away from Limassol is another "big" town (Larnaka or Pafos). I don't complain: I'm one of these highly-qualified specialists who have "heated" the local real estate market. I just think that it's unfair that a month rent of a regular 2-3 bedroom apartment is equal to a median salary in Cyprus.

[@pranshulmalviya]

As a foreign student living in Germany since 2017 and receiving no financial aid such as Bafög, finding a place in the university city of Aachen has been an absolute nightmare so far. While there are quite a few affordable options in the countryside and smaller towns, where I myself have been staying for the past 4 years, in cities like Aachen with a very high demand and much lower availability of homes, the chances of finding an affordable option are extremely slim. Long waiting lists in dormitories means a waiting time of at least 1 year under normal circumstances and with the Covid crisis this has gone up even more. I've been unsuccessfully looking for a single apartment since 3 months and am about to be homeless in 13 days as I've already had to give my 3 month notice.

[@godzillamothra5983]

I live in Medan, Indonesia. A city that most people probably never heard of here. The price of the houses in this city is comparable to the houses in the US, some even surpass it. It is common for a house here to be price more than 100k dollars. My own house, that my family inherited from my grandpa, has market value of more than 300k dollars and it keep rising every year. It is not even a luxurious house. Not that I'm happy about it. Our government has chosen to let the market dictate the housing policy, and we are all live in a dog eat dog world.

[@aljohnson2838]

It's probable also so they can also raise property taxes.

[@wizard7314]

I know that your income is low there. But that is cheap for a house. You should say how many years of median wage it costs.

[@michaeldeng1981]

it's a global issue, not your government problem alone

[@holdmybeer123]

Government increases the price of your house by low interest rates. You don't see that do you? You want low interest rates and low prices? Give me a break.

[@godzillamothra5983]

@@holdmybeer123 the thing is, the interest rate here is pretty high, that is why foreign banks love to buy out the banks in Indonesia. They made nice profits.

[@BulukEtznab]

Thanks for that insightful overview of what's going on. I've only got two "smaller" additions to add: 1) The Rent-Cap-Law here in Germany wasn't declared "unconstitutional" in principle, but because of its wording/legal formulation - and it was supposed to be valid everywhere and not just in Berlin for being constitutional, too. 2) We don't just "need to keep an eye on'" this Market, i.m.h.o., but change its REGULATION globally (like it's been done with that global tax [evasion] issue), so that there are boundaries as to how much more landlords can rise rents or utility costs in CONNECTION - meaning DEPENDENT on - with rising wages for low- and middle-class incomes and inflation. Anything exceeding that will eventually have to end in a collapse of the capitalist economy since people won't be able to buy things anymore when either their rents are taking up too much of their incomes or they have been starving, dying or otherwise lost everything and are homeless beggars on the streets... For this economy to work, people need to have enough income left - after spending some for their basic needs like shelter, food, drink, hygiene, health etc. - to buy stuff. And taking loans only delays the inevitable because it's less likely, that everyone can rise to the finite number of "high-income jobs" or become a millionaire from entrepreneurship. The delusion always seems to be, that people are trained/conditioned to believe, that "with hard work and perseverance everybody can get rich", which is utter bs to be frank. It's economically impossible - unless inflation kicks us at some point and under certain conditions back to post-war-inflation and we'll pay with millions of what formerly used to cost single or double-digit-amounts (respectively more for countries with a single unit currency like Japan, for example). If this continues, the next housing market bubble is only a question of "when" within the next couple of years and not "if". And it might already have been starting with the situation in China, who knows. Speculation/Gambling with people's live(lihood)s must be illegal everywhere, so there aren't any loopholes, through which such anti-social and life-threatening behavior can be "justified". Regulation does not mean "planned economy" like the Socialist Regime in China and former Soviet Regimes have been doing it so far! - To mix these up or frame them as "the same" is utter bs, too. It's obvious how much regulating markets has benefited the well-being of the population from everywhere it's been implemented. When people do not need to be afraid to lose their jobs because of social systems supporting their transitions from one to the next (no, most people do not just "lean back and become lazy" when they need to apply for these, that's a myth being spread by anti-social austerity-ideologists), they are much more likely to find new jobs, too, because their mental health won't be affected from losing a job or choosing to find a new one (because of toxic social environments, for example or burn-out). To deny reality makes it impossible to deal with it as needed - and reality distortion because of egotistical and short-sighted "goals"/agendas has always been a very strong "trait" in anti-social personalities, that propagate deregulation and all these other anti-social policies, that come with it... It's a relatively easy cause-and-effect pattern, but if people choose to be willfully blind because they're either too afraid of facing the painful failures/mistakes, that have happened/were made or they are far too ambitious and egotistical to care about the lives of anyone else but themselves, then they will not act accordingly, of course (since it's "not in their best interest" to feel the shame of failure/mistakes or being outed as an anti-social a-hole). But the change is still inevitable either way, because if we do not change/adapt when we can still CHOOSE to do so, the situation usually escalates so far over time (years, decades, sometimes even centuries), that we will NOT HAVE A CHOICE anymore and the measures will have to be drastic in order to save ourselves or the economy, that has benefited so few and enslaved so (too) many... Reality always wins, no matter how much people try to distort and warp it in their narratives...so, it'd be wise to stay as close to it as we can. Because if we don't , the consequences for future generations will be more than dire.. Cheers

[@Mrdresden]

I bought my small (50m2) apartment in Reykjavik in January 2017. It has since, in these 4 years, gone up by 30% in valuation. Wages do not keep rising this quickly anywhere. Soon none but the very top of the weatth piramid will be able to enter the market. 15-20 years down the line, the next generation will never be able to buy. And rent prices keep going up as well, pushed up by these ever increasing costs of buying and building.

[@OK-ws7ti]

consumerism will suffer a slow death, kicking and scraping. when people are forced back into serfdom they won't be able to support the consumer-based economies due to them being put into the mindset of someone with a middle ages or the great depression-esque frugality.

[@syproful]

You won nothing. When you sell, you need that same money to buy something new which also increased in price. i’m sure you realize this, but some do not.

[@syproful]

@BlueCrow I don’t know where you live. But where i live, cheaper means lesser. Either it being in a bad location, small or full reno. Most people when they grow older want to upgrade. And not have the same hassle all over again. I’m not saying you can’t gain on you sell. But most will not.

[@sucre2694]

In Hong Kong as well, since wages do not rise so quickly, property developers made their way by reducing the size of apartments while increasing the per m2 prices. Since many take years to save down payments (prices may go up quicker than increase in savings), some couples have to opt for smaller apartments, say 25m2 for 2ppl and optimise the space... 50m2 apartment nowadays here cost around 1mln usd?

[@zampy15021993]

@War Lord Block the money supply and over the long term the price of almost anything would be stable or slowly dropping. Also nobody would ever be able to buy a house before 50 since any form of credit would be unsustainable. This would not solve wealth disparity, but it would preserve your savings. We would also need a way to make people accept wages cut in line with deflation since profits would decrease in nominal terms over the long term and thus paying a fixed salary would not be sustainable.

[@johnsmith-fw8np]

Every government is printing money. Eventually the money finds it's way to the rental market. There is only one society that doesn't benefit from the printing of money. That's the working and/or poor people.

[@eco_logic]

Wait till you receive a UBI

[@Skoda130]

@@eco_logic that won't happen.

[@acommentator69]

Debt gets cheaper. That benefits poor people

[@therighteous802]

remember when banks were just a means for people to buy a house and not their competition? pepperidge farm remembers.

[@sjakie49]

Remember the time since banks were used to make businesses more efficient and radically overhauled the economies? Businesses could finally borrow, grow larger and create more welfare, becoming a vital piece of the economy. You cant have all the good without a few bads. Pepperidge farm surely remembers.

[@nataliekhanyola5669]

😂😂🤣🤣

[@sebastianwallin3726]

Remember when banks weren't digital? Remember how they once protected peoples money by storing their cold cash in bank accounts? Remember how it changed as the banks became large enough to take the risk to give money to people based on checks? Remember how credit cards has ensured that now banks need to be capable of sending your money to wherever you flash that plastic-card? Back when everyone traded in bills and coins the demand for banks were less. Now they are responsible for everything happening in your life because it is easier this way.

[@therighteous802]

@@sebastianwallin3726 What does that have to do with it? Technology, ease of use, etc. don't in any way justify financial engineering and speculative behavior.

[@sebastianwallin3726]

@@therighteous802 Actually it does. Technology has made speculating far easier than before.

[@jumboegg5845]

Its the same situation in major cities of Australia (especially Sydney and Melbourne): high inflation in the cost of housing, resulting from low interest rates. This form of inflation is not counted in the CPI, even though housing is as essential as food.

[@PHlophe]

its a global issue. I am not far from Nairobi, Kenya, saaaaaame problem. we need to take greedy landlords down .

[@michlblacksmith]

Same here in Europe and housing prices are far above inflation. Also because the investment demand is high, much higher than actually people needing homes to live in.

[@jumboegg5845]

​@@michlblacksmith The rising cost of housing (which includes rent) is inflation. Inflation is not just limited to ordinary goods and services. Governments need to carefully control inflation in ordinary housing for ordinary people. Let investors speculate all they want over highly sought after real estate in prime locations. Ordinary people need good affordable housing so they can go to work efficiently.... to make money for wealthy people.

[@michlblacksmith]

@@jumboegg5845 Inflation can be low and the demand for housing height, resulting in high prices. So it has not solely to do with inflation. The problem is the commodity demand (people needing a roof over their head) is much lower compared to the investment demand. And we will never be able to satisfy investment demand, meaning providing houses for the only purpose to invest in them is the wrong way.

[@jumboegg5845]

​@@michlblacksmith You are talking about the CPI. The way CPI is calculated has been changed (manipulated) by the government and now many people believe it does not reflect true inflation in the economy. For example in the USA, inflation is much higher when it is calculated the old way. There is much information about it, look it up. I was talking about asset inflation (houses etc) which has rapidly increased because the cost of money is cheap (low interest rates) - the dollar has lost value because the government has printed trillions of dollars which keep interest rate down.

[@cmk353]

We desperately need a vacant property tax

[@chocolateclaire]

yes yes yes. In California the tax is so low and will not rise as long as you own it. So why rent, why not just keep watching the value appreciate.

[@johnsamuel1999]

only for rental property not for normal homes

[@abyxavier6540]

Impossible

[@roryhanlon927]

@@johnsamuel1999 A normal home is lived in, so it wouldn't be vacant.

[@jbay088]

Chinese cities have plenty of places to live too! The difference between China and Japan is that Japanese homebuyers remember their housing crash in 1990 and don't treat real estate as a safe investment, while Chinese buyers have only experienced rising prices and so are, for now, more fearless.

[@pacificsentinel]

how about the US? how many bubbles have they gone through? how far is 2008? there are no "plenty of places" in the US?

[@jbay088]

@@pacificsentinel the US may be experiencing a second housing bubble because of moral hazard from the 2008 bailout. But so far the US real estate bubble is pretty small by comparison.

[@edwardsmyth6522]

Is any investment safe? Investment is giving control of it to someone else. How about you keep it and mange it yourself. You know best what to do with it. Plus a few % more that you would've given to banks/inv houses/ rollon defi. Biggest scam is letting them brainwash you they need to manage your money 🤑 I get a lot more calls of offers to manage mine than I ever did - thanks but no thanks, whiskey, art you Name it I've had a call to stuff my money in it! Decisions decisions decisions. Quickest way to double ur money , keep it and fold into your pocket 🤑

[@DavidMcCalister]

I'm in Toronto Canada and its the same as Vancouver. Housing could be cheaper but the supply is heavily limited by overly restrictive zoning which is for small single family dwellings (low density) and laws are in favour of NIMBY's, so we are inviting so many people to come immigrate to our land, and then not giving them enough housing when they get here, and in a lot of ways taxing the newcomers with very high development fees to pay for infrastructure repairs to those who already live there and didn't want the new people in the first place.

[@edh615]

There are enough houses out there!! Just not enough people to pay the abusive prices.

[@DavidMcCalister]

@@msp5138 I definitely agree, the only way to stop that is some forms of regulation on that end. Right now we have regulation that gives all the control to the large businesses who can build in the certain areas all over the city (very limited), but we need to reduce that regulation (where density can be built, expand it) and figure out a form of regulation that doesn't kill the rental sector but keeps houses/condos in regular peoples hands and makes it possible for smaller groups to make their own mini-condos all over the city (democratizing development, no hedge fund necessary). Not sure what that looks but we have regulations that help big corps and weaken newcomers and younger people, and that needs to shift drastically.

[@robinhylands69]

@@msp5138 They can go ahead and buy them up, but they'll have to rent them out at lower prices to be competitive.

[@jennyvandermerwe9952]

Why is New Zealand not covered? In New Zealand the average house cost more than 12X the average yearly wage - and far worse in the largest cities. Houses of a million Euros are common.

[@PR15125]

Every property owner benefits from raising prices, including many politicians, so there is no real interest in fixing this problem. Making higher density housing easier to build would help, but of course, Not In My Backyard!, nor within 1000m around...

[@brownerjerry174]

people would still jump and buy all that property as speculative investments, look at Australian cities or Vancouver, Toronto etc. they are erecting high rise towers one after another, but still prices are not affordable, the solution is to get the speculators out of the market, and enforce priority in buying property to families and individuals, who will actually live there

[@PR15125]

@@brownerjerry174 This is symptom of problem. If it is difficult to build anything bigger than single family house, than there are either single family houses, or very big towers. If it is difficult to build something bigger than single family house, than going trough all that trouble will only be justifiable for very big buildings. There will be nothing in between. And there will be only few towers. And big buildings are not pleasant to live in. So people will tend to choose only available alternative - single family houses. Which would require building out. And more roads. And driving everywhere. This is expensive. In many ways.

[@cvdavis]

Majority of voters own houses so if the government wants to do something to make houses affordable (owners value goes down) the people vote against it. No real change will come.

[@crash_test_dummy_1]

Imagine being on a fixed income seeing rents go up an average of 22% this year (Tampa Bay area, FL) knowing your turn is coming soon... Looking for a way out, to find it's a global issue... This is going to end badly for many folks if a solution is not put in place soon...

[@woodhouse6755]

@@johnfurr6060 the problem is investors not the government. It's the opposide. It's a lack of governemnt that ist causing this

[@abdelwassimsheikh1307]

@@woodhouse6755 Without investors like us no none would afford to have a place to stay on rent. Who would buy the land and construct?

[@woodhouse6755]

@@abdelwassimsheikh1307 in my area we just to be able to buy properties. But becaus some developers bought every property available prices rose within a year by 100k. I don't even live in a big city but in a town of 30k. It's not normal what is going on. Our population did not suddenly rise by alot. The town did not suddenly need more people for work reason. It were simply developers that caused this .

[@abdelwassimsheikh1307]

@@woodhouse6755 ok If you need anything to help your business let me know or help to buy a house there.

[@Skoda130]

@@johnfurr6060 you simply can't separate government and money. Money by definition is the property of govrnments, or at least a currency coupled to government money. Money doesn't mean anything in a vacuüm. Everyone who says "money", says "government". Even those promoting the shitcoin.

[@JimmuTennothefirst]

I live in Vienna and it's not quite a problem here. The city government here builds an insane amount of affordable middle class housing and if they run out of space they extend the subway into empty fields and develop there. It's not that hard.

[@g_c6668]

It's sad when there is a model like Vienna already there to copy from, but in many countries in Europe all politicians do is call it a "complex" problem and do practically nothing

[@deniseproxima2601]

Empty fields: future import food and all others to feed the new population, because the birthrate was in decline over 70 years.

[@roryhanlon927]

We have empty fields outside London too. If you built a house on one the government would force you to knock it down.

[@karenwang313]

In the bay area where I am, its kinda become accepted that nobody will ever be able to afford property of their own. Its quite ridiculous how opposed people are to getting rid of single family houses in favor of places people can actually live in. And honestly, there isnt any point in trying to change anything since by the time anything gets done, I'll be old or dead.

[@PHlophe]

Karen, Bay area is bad but you guys haven't seen Paris where to rent an apartment you ned a Resume and its usually 20 people waiting to get inside just to have a quick look

[@tkzsfen]

ok, but who owns the houses then? Property investors? Are there private owners who sell their main or second home? please explain in detail, I'm curious. :)

[@Gewehr_3]

@@PHlophe At least rent is relatively affordable in Paris.

[@AvoidTheCadaver]

I think it would have been interesting to add Sydney Australia to the discussion. The average house price in Sydney is approaching 1.5million AUD. It's getting so bad here that an excessive twitch in the interest rate by the reserve bank could cause a crash. In a way, Australia is stuck in the same boat as China. Too much household debt is tied up in property

[@enigma194]

they need to get rid of negative gearing, the only legal tax loophole!

[@hurrdurrmurrgurr]

@@enigma194 And ban foreign ownership, and ban corporate entities buying residential lots, and ban people owning multiple investment properties and ban politicians from owning investment properties at all since they'll never change anything when they directly benefit from the balloon.

[@ttbr7687]

The longer they wait the bigger the bubble will get before it bursts.

[@Cibalia]

@@hurrdurrmurrgurr Why should they ban any of that investment. Like all free markets, it will eventually reach equilibrium. Things will be priced so high that people will eventually leave those cities unless the wages can sustain those rents/mortgages. It takes time for people to realise they should move however.

[@hurrdurrmurrgurr]

​@@Cibalia For four reasons, the farther people are forced to spread from the city centre the longer traffic times become causing knock on drops in productivity for all commuters as they have less time to act as consumers and producers each day and heightened chances of more lost income to car accidents and subsequent insurance rises. There's also worse work output from the stress of commuting but that's difficult to quantify. The second reason is that sprawl isn't cheap, you incentivise people to spread out and so you need to pay for electricity, water, rubbish, roads and so on to be built and maintained. These empty investment properties pay property taxes but filled residences generate revenue from other taxes on top most obviously GST. A low tax density on ever expanding public utilities is a recipe for bankruptcy. The inevitable market crash could drive city prices back down causing people to move back but cities can't refund all the now unnecessary utilities they're forced to maintain. The third reason is overseas investment. The market forces dictating supply and demand become irrelevant when overseas buyers with far more wealth can afford to buy out these central homes at prices impossible for local wages to compete. More cheap residences can be built farther afield but since overseas investors have more money there's nothing stopping them from buying out those properties too. The properties then either sit empty causing the previously mentioned utility crisis; or they become rentals, and so your population become serfs paying their income into the economic growth of other competing nations. If we want to be alarmist this could be called economic warfare. The final reason is as you said, it takes time for people to see moving further away as worth while. In the mean time they'll do all they can to cut costs in other areas to make their repayments. This funnels income from a wide variety of job producing industries into banks which in the short term can lead to a recession. In the long term, well children are expensive. More people choose not to have kids to maintain their standard of living, the population pyramid inverts and so the economy heads toward stagflation. Since you used a free market argument I assume you believe in the value of an efficient market. Density creates an efficient market, empty houses do not.

[@StellariumSound]

I feel like Rob has come so far. His presentation is fantastic.

[@xanderjames8682]

Good voice but needs to blink more

[@olly1oo6]

The housing market in Sydney Australia has increased by 30.4% in the last 12 months, to a median of $1.5 million. That's an increase of $720 per DAY. If you bought a house at the median price 12 months ago, you would now be better off by nearly $350,000. To earn enough money to make up the difference in a year, you would need to be in the top 1% of income earners in Australia.

[@herrop]

What's the typical mortgage term In Australia? Any more than 25 years your In a bubble. Also if cheaper to rent than own then definitely in a bubble.

[@raerae6422]

My brother lives in Sydney. He and his gf keep saving but the house prices keep going up around the same amount as they save. Doesnt help when they pay enormous rent also.

[@nathanh2725]

Yeah but that's in the city I get prices are rising in Australia in general but that's a city you shouldn't except to afford a city home on a blue collar wage

[@olly1oo6]

@@nathanh2725 That's a reasonable point, there are major differences in city vs non-city prices. But I'd hardly say that anything below top 1% of earnings are 'blue collar wages'. 86% of Australians live in cities - it is a different setup to Europe and the Americas - most of our spaces outside major cities aren't habitable at levels that provide opportunities for local townships to have good employment. Moreover, most of that population is spread between just a handful of big cities on the east coast - Sydney and Melbourne make up for almost half of the entire Australian population. If 86% of Australians live in cities, then logic dictates these dwellings should be affordable enough so that the majority of those 86% can eventually afford to own and live in city homes. That makes for a prosperous economy.

[@gamingtonight1526]

London is ridiculously short of homes, mostly because we have a government that is only building houses to buy, rather than social houses to rent, we also still have the "Right to Buy" law, where people can buy their social homes after living in it for just 10 years, at a great discount, meaning many social homes have been lost to the private sector. Until the UK gets rid of the Right To Buy law, and start building home for everybody, it will continue to have an ever worsening housing crisis.

[@1112viggo]

Concerning humanity, every time the question is "are we heading for disaster?" You just know the answer is going to be YES!

[@gluteusmaximus1657]

Watching this documentary while having a letter that annouces a rent-rise lying on my table. 15% ! Now i need a 15% raise to make ends meet or eat 15% less.

[@guidobit]

Look closely at the weight of supermarket items, it has been declining, sometimes creatively in a bigger enclosure but just with less food. Inflation is here..

[@vpnconsult]

(Central) Banks this year are providing 20% more debt for new house buyers. To keep up with the debt increase, rents need to rise.

[@gluteusmaximus1657]

@Bhante I think you know.

[@pocnit]

Do you currently spend as much money on food as you do on rent? Otherwise you might very well need to eat 50% less to pay the 15% rent increase.

[@johngablesmith4671]

Absurd that interest rates are so much lower than inflation. Negative real interest rates. Transferring wealth from savers to borrowers.

[@gpsfinancial6988]

@@esprit101 Measuring the inflation has been a problem. Properly factoring in house prices and rent rises would have seen higher inflation/interest rates. Gambling interest rates will stay low is a risky strategy.

[@cloudpoint0]

No one will provide funds to borrow if interest rates stay lower than inflation for long. Better to invest the funds in directly productive endeavors (farms, mines, factories, etc.) or just spend the money.

[@holdmybeer123]

@@esprit101 So your logic is, since more people are borrowing than saving, let's just keep cutting the interest rates to further below negative? Either you think that interest rates are inconsequential or you think that the consequences of debt default are not serious. Either way, a decade worth of stagflation ought to set your attitude straight.

[@ConstructiveMinds100]

You mean transferring the wealth from poor and middle classes to rich.

[@johnl.7754]

Problem is that most governments are very heavily indebted so they can’t allow interest rates to rise. Having low interest rate while having high inflation means that they themselves can payoff their own debts easier and borrow more.

[@kel8026]

House prices and rental fees in Istanbul have have increased substantially in the last year, along with the prices of everything else. Not good for the locals, at all.

[@monocyte2210]

I live in the philippines but i feel the same thing. Me and my wife cant afford to buy a house both us are working and without kids. Its kinda sad

[@newafricanforum]

Philippines house are cheap in comparison, especially outside major cities. But if you work in the Philippines and earn pesos, the country has got the lowest salaries in the region. If you and your wife are able to work outside of major cities, without affecting your salaries that much, say teachers for example, I would be looking in the provinces.

[@50_Pence]

@@newafricanforum teachers are paid terribly in phili.

[@didforlove]

this is global problem in mexico too

[@oliviachipperfield6029]

I live 3 hours northeast of Vancouver. The rent prices in my city have risen astronomically in the past few years. A 3 bedroom,2 bathroom upstairs of a house (basement rented out to other tenants) will cost about $2,200 per month. This city has not even 100,000 people.

[@2xtreme4u2bme]

I’m guessing You are in Merritt BC? I’m considering moving away from the city and finding a hone there this coming year

[@leonardogarrido]

Even Kelowna is so expensive and the job opportunities so limited. A house in Kelowna is almost reaching a million

[@houghtonstreet3392]

just camp out

[@deepblue3682]

2200 dollar for rent.. !!!...

[@misterfunnybones]

The wealthy are buying multiple homes both in the city & rural, leaving renters to pay a return on the invested capital. That's if the property is rented at all; some just wait for the capital appreciation, forego rent, & flip it.

[@quinnp8493]

Worth mentioning that a large chunk of Canada's issue comes from the fact that homes are tax sheltered investments. If you bought a home for 400k and sell for 2 million, your net tax on that comes out to a wooping $0. This strongly encourages throwing all your money into buying a home as so long as you can even get a slightly comparable growth to non-housing sources you will end up netting more post tax money. The biggest speculators in the Canadian housing market are Canadians.

[@abdelwassimsheikh1307]

Is it easy to find a clueless buyer who will buy a 400k home for 2 million within 2 years of buying the house? And who will rent a 400k/2mill house till it gets sold this economy?

[@quinnp8493]

@@abdelwassimsheikh1307 This isn't about short term dramatic returns so much as long ones. Ex since 1995 Vancouver RE has grown at over 7% per year avg. This would be similar to the returns of some index funds but with the exception that all the gains from the RE go untaxed. This is a big deal because at the 50% tax rate on capital gains you would need to make ~11% back on an investment portfolio to compete with a 7% gain in real estate. The latter of which is much more secure, and where leverage is available. As such, the tax system strongly incentivizes treating your home like a pension fund and thus encourages buying the biggest, most expensive home you can get and enjoy that tax-free appreciation.

[@abdelwassimsheikh1307]

@@quinnp8493 well I invest in stocks and bonds. And crypto and my returns are 20% to 200%. However, if you are offering me a deal in RE market I may consider investing 10 million for a period of 5 to 10 years and holding you you it.

[@narcisdurla3137]

Simple solution , no family should be allowed to own more than a flat , house . You must have at least 5-10 working years in taxes in the country that you live and only then you will be allowed to purchase your own home . Simple. Housing shouldnt be a bussines , it should be a human right .

[@johnsamuel1999]

you have no right to prevent people from spending how they like

[@johnsamuel1999]

@War Lord the problem is the low interest rates , strong zoning law without a focus on affordability and foreign ownership. it is not the people who invest in properties

[@johnsamuel1999]

@War Lord we had low interest loans for a long time (since 2010) . 10 years of low interest loans is enough time to cause asset prices to rise

[@johnsamuel1999]

@War Lord i agree with your second idea , but your first idea of freezing prices is a very bad idea because it artificially affects the markets

[@johnsamuel1999]

@War Lord oh God haha

[@thejourney6712]

Every developed nations needs anti hoarding laws when it comes to properties. And more taxes the more properties you own.

[@lettucesalad3560]

Yet the govt pretends like they have no idea how to solve it.

[@AA-il9pc]

Yes, because increasing taxes on rental properties won’t have any effect on people wanting to rent. 🤔

[@thejourney6712]

@@AA-il9pc not increased property tax but increase tax on the initial 1 time purchase of the property to make it harder to acquire multiple house as an investment when others are homeless

[@AA-il9pc]

@@thejourney6712 Making it more expensive to acquire housing will only increase the cost to all buyers and renters. If you decrease property taxes and first time fees that will make it easier for first time homeowners and renters to get into the market.

[@thejourney6712]

@@AA-il9pc I some what agree. First time homer owners yes, lower property taxes yes but if you are in the process of buy your 9th apartment building to rent out the sales tax on it should be higher than your first second and third. Why most we allow a few to monopolies housing. That i just sick.

[@Arsalalvi]

The solution is simple, each person should be allowed to buy a single house. Residential properties should not be abused as investing havens for the super rich.

[@edwardsmyth6522]

Nice thought, how about the inheritance question? Govs forever changing the rules on that too!

[@roxymang1]

In summer 2020 I saw an apartment in downtown Vancouver for $525k (unusually low for Vancouver) and I called the realtor and said I’m interested and she asked if I was going to need a mortgage or buy it with cash. The apartment sold the next day way over asking and all in cash….

[@yumbam5546]

Stop QE programs, raise interest rates(to positive levels like they should be) and the bubble will pop.

[@munib1000]

This housing bubble across the world is going to pop in the biggest way, but we don't know if the equity market will kick it off or another catalyst like inflation.

[@brukernavn142]

@@munib1000 Except in Japan. a new home for 4 people in downtown Tokyo costs abount 3 to 400000 USD and a 20 years old for 20 to 30 000 USD.

[@vpnconsult]

Yup

[@eti-om2gh]

The truth of the financial system hides behind QE

[@chrisnamaste3572]

Ding ding ding.

[@nikolai9520]

The problem in Japan seemed to be about the cost of owning a home, which accounts for the abandoning of them--as opposed to there being too many homes.

[@johnpeterson8674]

Taxes and fees aren't too high imo, I think it's more about homes with old aged owners. When they move to nursery facilities, the former homes are just left there to rot. Second hand homes are also unpopular in Japan because of higher rate of degradation compared to drier countries.

[@Dwightstjohn-fo8ki]

@@johnpeterson8674 yup. you're in a humid area and in winter, you don't heat the homes, so deterioration is common.

[@abdelwassimsheikh1307]

@Fatimaxn Barry build from concrete mortar which keeps house warm. Not like wood in US where you need heat bill

[@Robin.Burke-Optical_Collusion]

In Japan its very hard for a landlord to rent a house or apartment where the previous died in, regardless of the cause. This might sound absurd to many people but it's a bit deal there, the agent representing the landlord has to openly declare this status. Its possible to rent these properties for free for a limited time, so the landlord can then have this status lifted after the short term tenant moved out.

[@jebbo-c1l]

need to stop seeing housing as a commodity/investment and instead as an essential part of survival that the government should guarantee for the weakest in society. That doesn't mean you cant be a private homeowner, but it means the government needs to play a bigger role on the housing market. If we want cities with a broad range of social classes where teachers and nurses can afford to live, then the government needs to build mass social/affordable housing and relax zoning laws. Vienna's public housing is a great example of a success story other major cities should be inspired from

[@michellep1555]

a major problem is being seen in Australia at the movement. its a bubble that i hope will burst even though i do own a home and mortgage because too many times i see home owners being out priced by investor who have deep pockets and will over paid 50-100k above asked price and value to obtain an investment property and then turn around the charge premium for rent

[@mollypenwhistle7918]

Who is this presenter?, I really like his clear presentation style, well done

[@BrandNerd23]

0:55 Rob Watts

[@rteezy5683]

neville longbottom

[@faneportlock6276]

James Blunt

[@DeLorean4]

The realtor from Vancouver said that only about 1% of sales were from foreign buyers, but China doesn't give citizenship to foreigners no matter how long they stay, and foreigners are only permitted to buy a single property there, whereas Canada offers PR & citizenship, and parachute children are used to buy investment properties. With a 20% foreign buyer tax, there's a HUGE incentive to use a trusted friend or relative with PR status or citizenship to make the purchase for you. To make things worse, when multi-million dollar properties are purchased by people hiding their funds from the CCP, they declare zero global income, and claim welfare here, because there's no way Canada can verify an individual's Chinese financial information.

[@pacificsentinel]

that because you called yourself an immigration country, NO? did the native Indians complain about the housing price driven by your Canadian citizens at the beginnings? LOL

[@AKumar528]

Don't blame Chinese or foreign investors for ur ills.. Same problem is being suffered in India as well. The problem is with investor mindset. Houses are meant to be lived, not profits and assets. Treating them as assets reminds me of the gilded age.

[@benderbotx]

Was paying $1350 5 years ago for a 2 bedroom apartment. That same apartment is renting out for $2100.

[@didforlove]

scary

[@Mladjasmilic]

In New Belgrade, Serbia, what was once concrete towers with apartments given for free for workers in Communist period, now score over 2000€ per sqr meter. Average rent for 50 sqr meter apartment is now 350€, while median salary in Belgrade is 500€ per month or 6000€ per year. If one works just to pay cost of his family apartment with no interest, he would make for 3 sqr meters per year. In order to afford 50 sqr meter unit, it would take him 16 years...

[@tarasoviet]

+

[@Juniperus_Godegara]

Social disaster

[@es9382]

They asked 3,500 euros per sq.meter in Belgrade Waterfront last time I checked.

[@Mladjasmilic]

@@Juniperus_Godegara My friend is buying 1st apartment from investor. Building has not been event started to be built yet. Investor asks for 1600€ per sqrm + VAT, out of which he plans to have clear revenue of 1100 € per sqrm. So cost of construction is no more than 500€ per sqrm.

[@sociologica4247]

I live in Spain and it is crazy... from 2020 to 2023 have gone up by 250!! we make aprox 1000 thousand a month in general and rents are above 800€ montly, 1500 in malaga and similar. 500€ per room :( it is crazy!!! and we don't get what is going on...

[@LiquidShivaz]

We live in a former cheaper corner of the country. Housing prices have gone trough the roof the last years and we’re not able to move because every house price is so inflated. My grandson who’s now 14 has no outlook on an affordable home in the next 10 years. It might not be as bad as HK but we definitely feel the crisis

[@Crashed131963]

4.3 billion people on the Planet in 1980. Today it's 7.9 billion with 10 billion coming in 2050. More people need MORE places to live in. Its simple as that.

[@cosmindvd]

@@Crashed131963 Depends where you live, if you live in eastern europe and balkans, there is no problem like that, our population is decreasing.

[@Crashed131963]

@@cosmindvd Very True. I was just mentioning the planet's population over all. But over all the world's population only goes up and rather quickly now.

[@shif06]

@@cosmindvd what are you talking about, Slovakia, Czech, Poland is also considered as eastern Europe. They experiencing one of the highest house price increase right now. Slovakia was actually third in the world at some point.

[@nofurtherwest3474]

@@Crashed131963 Simple solution - MOVE. Move from Los Angeles to Indiana or Ohio. The market will sort itself out.

[@kimjeonghuun8665]

In Korea, we have the same situations. But It seems to be Chinese property speculators that move up our housing prices, Many people says. This is based upon our unpleasant experience that Back a decade or so, we experienced the same thing in Jeju Island(Korea's southern exotic island) that had seen massive influx of Chinese emigrants. Honest to say, Housing prices can not be all explained in terms of demand & supply. It maybe very naive think.

[@achtung001]

seems there is correlation of money printing, low interest rates and inflation..maybe increase interest rates and stop printing money out of thin air as it only helps the rich..thoughts..?

[@SuperLusername]

We should return to gold standard. Keynesian economics are obviously failing and have been since WW1. Politicians who actually want to genuinely fix something are a rare breed. Politicians who actually want to genuinely fix something and don't implement wrong policies in their good intentions are an even rarer breed.

[@SuperLusername]

@John Z I mean, we turn debt into wealth by investing earlier, whihch exacerbates the snowball efect of economic growth. But not if debt grows faster than the economy.

[@SuperLusername]

@John Z I actually dont think there is a plan. I think there is a series of politicians implementing solutions for short term gains and long term losses in order to get reelected. They dont care what happens in 20 years, they care what happens in 2 or 3, just in time for new elections. I am a staunch defender of democracy and freedom. But this is one problem (and it is a big one) of democracy for which I never managed to find an explanation, from me or anyone else. Democracy is a superior system to any other in every aspect other than this one (long term economic policy). And we're running out of time to solve it. If not, I fear there could be economic collapse, which could lead to civil strife and from there either civil wars or dictatorships...or both.

[@SuperLusername]

One of the solutions which kept, politicians in office from spending money irresponsibly, was the Gold standard. We can always re-implement it.

[@SuperLusername]

@John Z In the days of the original gold standard you could just give dollars/francs/pounds...and receive the weight in actual gold that was denoted on the bill. I dont see anything not transparent with that. People mostly didnt take the gold because the bill was worth the gold - it wasnt fiat money. It was much easier to carry the bills, than luggage gold around with you. Gold is dense and heavy (2.5x denser than iron).

[@RealLifeandAveragePeople]

In metro vancouver where I live, Renters are the ones that are hurting the most. A 2 parent household with 2 kids pay over 60 to 75% of their household income to landlords just to have a roof over their heads and many are getting rental increases starting January of 2022. Buying a homeowner out here in metro Vancouver is impossible for most locals. A single parent cannot afford to live here even if they are making 25hr, most of that income 85% would go to rent. Then tackle on bills and food. That is poverty level living out here. Average rent for a 2 bedroom in the lower mainland is 2000 and up to 3500 month..Alot of the time it can be more. In Saskatchewan homelessness is also on the rise as renters find themselves with low wages and rising rental costs. I grew up in Saskatchewan and have thought about moving back but due to low wages and rising rent costs, I wouldn't be any better off. Ontario is another place in Canada that is seeing the same situation. Canadian government and other governments at the local level will never make this issue a priority.

[@t0n0k0]

In the US employees are moving from expensive cities to cheaper ones and working from homes a good number of them are buying homes in the cheaper cities they move to and driving house prices higher there too. Imo zoning laws in the US are to blame for this messes and stagnant wages while everything else keeps going up.

[@pacotaco1246]

A single rented room can be $3,000 in california. It's fucking ridiculous. Human housing shouldn't be a for profit industry

[@scottyflintstone]

Yet you can also buy a house in California for 1,000 a month. Places like: Alturas, Susanville, Tulelake, Brawly, Rancho Tehama...many small towns

[@Buildbeautiful]

The world is run by evil criminals who get high on greed

[@stompysnake8233]

If there is no profit then there is no incentive for housing development. And if there is no housing development then the prices of the already existing housing will rise, as it happens to any object of value that is scarce.

[@zdlax]

@@stompysnake8233 you can literally build houses from tax revenue, no profit motive needed.

[@baronvonjo1929]

Well it's going to be. Someone has to fund it. Nothing is free.

[@xanderjames8682]

If you factor birth rates and immigration rates you should know how many homes to build for the future. Factoring in mortality rates would also help

[@cidercik]

Japan is not comparable. In Japan the older the house gets, the less it's worth. Older houses are not seen as desirable due to old building methods that are not up withstanding earthquakes. This means that they must continually keep building new houses to replace the older one. Hence, such a high rate of building.

[@MrHaend]

I couldn't afford a place to stay for almost a year, been pretty tough especially that I didn't have a place for my son to stay with me.

[@lukeb8395]

I live an hour from Dublin, in my area 5-6 years ago you could buy a 2 bed apartment for 55000 now they are 125-150 thousand, rent on a two bed was 550pm now 1000-1100, 1 bed apartments were as low as 35000 to buy now they are 95 - 105000 3X appreciation in 5-6 years, prices have increased by about 20000 since the pandemic started, crazy, wages have not increased at all taxes and inflation have though, my generation of millennials are truly a lost generation just as we began to pull out of the last recession we get hit with a massive increase in prices and cost of living and then Covid hits, I am sure we will also be the ones that will have to pay the bill for these pandemic measures as well no doubt the rich and the generations before us that caused all these messes definitely wont anyway, I have had to work 3 jobs to get by all I have done is work every chance I get and I am barely making progress, if I don't save every penny I earn and invest it I will never have a chance of retiring at this rate, first generation in history to be poorer than our parents apparently, that says it all.

[@krakendragonslayer1909]

To prevent capitalism from degeneration into feudalism, there need to be progressive wealth tax and no income tax.

[@clam4597]

Isn't it simpler just to expropriate the property?

[@AA-il9pc]

So communism with extra steps?

[@j05hau]

@@AA-il9pc define communism

[@AA-il9pc]

@@j05hau Elimination of personal wealth

[@j05hau]

@@AA-il9pc communism is about enhancing personal property / liberties and abolishing private property. It’s where the workers own the means of production, rather than that wealth being transferred to the capitalist. Take note of the terms “personal” and “private” property. There’s a distinction to be made here; private property is owned by those who wish to make money off their property with the intent of employment or investments (investment properties / means of production / etc), personal property are assets that are owned and *used* by the owner (roof over your head / your own land / items that you use / etc). With this being now better defined for you, can you define communism for me, please.

[@alexandersokolov7001]

In Moscow, 1 month after pandemic started, interest rates were lowered by 1% + additional government support and the developers responded by increasing their prices by 25 % on average over a year. And I’m talking about the houses that were mostly built pre march 2020.

[@parthapratimghose173]

Be happy Russia is facing depopulation and the area is huge

[@Camilla_Kudrin]

Yes. In Russia it's going nice with the housing market. In my birth city of about 1.6 million residents you can always buy a flat, and you can find a rental property within 1 day. Now I live in the Netherlands in the city with about 200 thousand people, and here many students and young workers just cannot afford any appartment to rent. It's getting only worse.

[@maxs.8340]

Can you imagine that a regular Russian student or "young specialist" can afford an apartment in any more or less big city in Russia?

[@Den_SPb]

The same is in Saint-Petersburg. Even worse. Real estate prices are insane in relation to average salaries in the city. But renting prices are pretty low though.

[@danharvey3096]

For an issue that affects THE WORLD, you forgot The Southern Hemisphere, namely Australia & New Zealand. Australia, particularly Melbourne & Sydney have been in a property bubble for over a decade. But the crazy thing is that New Zealand is more expensive than Australia despite our lower wages & less amenities. I would hazard a guess that Auckland is more expensive than Berlin, as the Auckland median is $1.2M as of the beginning of 2021, so probably more now. Auckland is more expensive than Sydney, Wellington at $1.1M is more expensive than Melbourne, Christchurch & Tauranga are both more expensive than Brisbane, Hamilton is more expensive than Perth, etc. This is despite Auckland being the only NZ city larger than any Australian state capital city, & NZ wages lower than in all of them. Other than historic low interest rates, favourable tax policy, & a lack of other investment classes. New Zealand has a historic problem of underbuilding houses in general, & deliberately underfunded public housing infrastructure, much of which has been sold off by previous govts. That has really come to a head in recent years, exacerbated by the flood of cheap money from QE last year to boost the economy from Covid. With the national median house price going up 20% in 2020, with some regions going up by 35% as spill-over from Auckland & Wellington as people chase cheaper prices. But every single housing market in NZ is in bubble territory & well above average salaries. Finally now there is new regulation to make home building easier, with loosened zoning restrictions etc. But after decades of building less houses than we did 40 years ago, despite a fast growing population in the last 10 years, it's going to take a long time to fix the problem. And for many people moving to Australia will continue to be a better option, not just for better wages, better opportunities, & cheaper living costs, but also for cheaper rents & houses. As unbelievable as that sounds.

[@packageism]

Raise interest rates = market correction

[@Cibalia]

Sydney is at $1.5mil median house price. The worst thing is that Sydney is a LAAARGE city, so that is over like 12,000km2. If you want to be within an hours drive of the Opera House you are looking at even more.

[@s.n.7990]

Watching it from Vancouver where the price is ridiculous. Everything government does make is worse.

[@Tazza81]

House prices in my home town of Hobart, Tasmania have gone up by 117% in the last 8 years. 5 years ago I was able to comfortably afford the rent for a 1 bedroom apartment. Today at the age of 40 I live in a sharehouse and pay $30 more per week for my room than I did for the unit. I earn an ok wage, employed full time but highly doubt I will ever be able to afford to rent my own place again, let alone buy a home.

[@newafricanforum]

That's rather disappointing. An ok job in a city like hobart should be able to pay enough to rent a house, for a single person aged 40. Even in Sydney or Melbourne or Auckland I would expect an ok job to afford me at least a small apartment or unit of my own

[@DocuFlow]

Well paced, nicely told. Thank you.

[@TJ-qi4ib]

The fact that people own rental and vacation properties, while there are those of whom remain unhoused. It’s a systemic problem. We have more housing than households (in the US). There’s really no reason why people should own more than one home

[@natedogg890]

I left Vancouver for Alberta 4 months ago, I was making over 110k per year and was living in a basement, ownership of anything besides an overpriced box was out of reach. I had no choice but to leave the region I was born in and lived my entire life

[@padtag1742]

Median housing price/median annual salary, please

[@leifharmsen]

Japan has excellent public transport including inter city transport - it makes a big difference to housing, flexibility, availability and affordability. I'm in Canada with a distorted twin ruling party voting system, so unlike Japan, Canada lacks the accountability in our governing assemblies to bring about good public transportation.

[@apopompi]

I see it as just natural economics. If cities are kept as hubs of wealth, the space there will increase in value. The simplest answer is to take the wealth generating jobs and industries and either make them remote, or move them out of cities. Same with universities and higher education facilities. Then, naturally people will follow and property prices will fall. This will impact negatively anyone who uses housing as investment but will be positive for those who use them to live, thus making it more positive. It will also have a positive ecological incentive, since it will spread the pressure on local resources avoiding the need to transport them long distances, as opposed to concentrating all the needs in a single point that can't produce anything like a big city. People don't stay on a place where a good job can't even pay rent because they like, they do it because they won't be able to find a similar job or opportunities elsewhere

[@gD-cp3cg]

I like your explanation, but can you find a person, an authority, a president to make this type of decision...

[@apopompi]

@@gD-cp3cg You're right, this is something that needs to be pressed on by government. I wonder if there is a conflict of interest though, since cities do want to grow, and one way of doing it while getting money is selling building and development permissions.

[@gD-cp3cg]

@@apopompi On one side the capitalism system wants to keep people on this situation to collect their money. On the other side you have the global system who is open for people who are rich. They can buy anywhere easily. In France for example we have a lot of english people in north west. When my parents moved in Vietnam for their holdays few years ago, people there, were thinking my parents were rich but now it's about the value money. That is why it's complicated because people who have money can do anything and without rules it's getting worst. Capitalism and liberalism system and we do not talk about company like Blackrock who is free to buy anywhere in a World.

[@ChrisTaylor-NEP]

Banks invest far more money into housing (mortgages) than businesses because there is very little collateral in businesses to be recouped by banks in case of loan defaults. This is why there is twice the growth in real estate prices than economic growth, and that's unsustainable. If banking licences were only renewed in banks that invest as much into the business economy as they invest into the housing market, this would calm the housing market while boosting economic growth (and wages). However, don't expect anyone to cotton on any time soon.

[@whatsupbudbud]

After 2008 housing crisis in Latvia, people expected for the prices to drop considerably but they only dropped by some 20-30% and they're now way above the '08 highs. And the reason? Banks not selling properties they got from bankrupt people. So I agree, this has to stop.

[@didforlove]

@@whatsupbudbud this is wrong

[@oldskoolmusicnostalgia]

Are we heading? Which part of the 2000s did you miss? Housing has been out of reach for most for decades now

[@kimberlyperrotis8962]

Here in the San Francisco Bay Area, there’s not a lot of available housing, and what there is is very expensive. It starts around $3,000 US/month for a two-bedroom apartment rental, in a less-desirable area. I’m so lucky, my house was purchased in the 80s and the mortgage is paid off. I couldn’t otherwise afford to live here during retirement, everything else here is really expensive, too, from insurance to fuel to food.

[@Worldofourown2024]

I used to dream about living in San Francisco and LA, but when I went in 2014, I was in for a rude awakening. Rents too high, limited choices, angry homeless all over the place, high crime, and poopy streets. I then went to Salt Lake in mid 2014 to find an affordable apartment after a few months that was horrible for the drugs, drama, and homelessness right outside because so problematic by 2018 and then 2020 being anarchy with no law enforcement killed it. I was trying to find something better last February, but would have to move up to about $1800 a month rent while my full time take home income was $2400 with $800 a month student loan payments due to kick in next January. I completed my lease just last month and high tailed it to Missouri to restart all over again at the age of 50. Saint Louis? Uh, absolutely not... For gawds sake, all our major cities are ruined wastelands.

[@archiesmum8601]

"Heading for Disaster"🤔. Seriously? I'd say we're hurtling straight into one after the other. Private landlords aren't interested in long term tenants these day's, student accommodation seems to be the main choice here in Bournemouth UK. Basic kitchen & bathroom amenities then maximize the number of bedrooms. Endless supply of tenant's, annual let's, high rent's = good profits Local governments assisted by central government are doing nothing to address the shortfall... This isn't a new problem, in the UK they started selling off the social housing stock in the 80's and didn't bother to re build. Now with people moving between countries being the "norm" it's only going to get worse

[@not_important]

I live in Thailand where every there's tones of empty house and condos, many condo units don't have allot of lights on at night, this about to change because thailand is opening up the housing market to rich people, so there will be a flood of Chinese coming over to buy everything and leave empty.. I can't find a cheap place to live my my home country because of the same thing that's about to happen here.

[@wannabewallaby1592]

What's worse is sometimes politicians see these as "great investments that will benefit people" so they build more super expensive properties which most locals cannot afford.. in the end we have thousands of empty properties owned by foreign buyers and locals have no place to stay

[@pedrocavalcante5822]

In Brazil, the same thing happens. Mainly in the most populous cities.

[@lawrencelawrence3920]

And if the condos are empty and own by absent foreigners the locals and the local businesses will go away because there will be no customers. Soon you will have a ghost city.

[@TinyCloud90]

Same on the balkans. It’s ridiculous… new complexes are built that no one can afford and thus they stay empty. Also the Energie bills are getting huge this year… it’s awful. Idk how we can get through this since it’s getting a worldwide Problem

[@TinyCloud90]

@@msp5138 I also think it’s not. It’s human greed again

[@harperwelch5147]

I was expecting some more suggestions. Pretty slim on what we didn’t know already.

[@khanch.6807]

Wait for the bubble to pop. Buy good places with growth prospects after that. Texas is a good target.

[@mclemorebrown3848]

The reality of the rich and the poor is this: the rich invest their money and spend what is left. The poor spend their money and invest what is left

[@khanch.6807]

@@mclemorebrown3848 That's a really bad advice.

[@mclemorebrown3848]

@@khanch.6807 not an advice, that's the reality.

[@halinawatterson6583]

Investing in today is priceless because tomorrow isn't promised, trading cryptocurrencies and valuable stocks is the safest means to secure a better tomorrow

[@VirtueMastery]

If the government can't ensue affordable housing, then there is no required duty of allegiance.

[@gohfi]

Berlin: the court did NOT judge it being unlawful. It just ruled that the federal state (Government of Berlin) does not have the authority to regulate this. It’s for the state (Government of Germany) to decide.

[@pacificsentinel]

this is so un-capitalism and free market. LOL 😂😂😂😂

[@gohfi]

@@pacificsentinel ?

[@Ladeenian]

A law should be brought in & enforced, to make sure houses are registered, just like people have to register their cars. Then another law must also be brought in & enforced, to stop anyone from owning more than 3 houses at a time. Anyone owning more than 3 houses should be made to sell their excess houses, or pay 10 times more land tax & rates on each extra house they own. This is simply rationing home ownership so that rich investors can never again buy up numerous houses to run as AirBnb’s, or to simply keep empty, while enjoying 20% investment growth year after year.

[@emuriddle9364]

I agree. There's a city not too far from where I live. And Airbnb bought a whole bunch of properties there. So, now a lot of people have to commute from other places. Because they can't afford to live in that city.

[@tpaine1815]

Well, you didn't look at the housing crisis in New Zealand - property prices AVERAGE is over a $1m for an increasing spread of places in the country. Rents are rising and rising all the time because yong people have no hope of saving the deposit to afford a mortgage.

[@ljnv]

Yep. Same here in Melbourne and Sydney. Its absolutely ridiculous

[@kurinio_turejas]

The behavior of people in Ireland and Germany is inspiring. Unfortunately, in many other places people don't really take up the fight.

[@pikachu5647]

13:55 exactly how is having too many houses causing affordable housing for all a bad thing?

[@zampy15021993]

Having too many in the wrong place. Similarly in Italy you can get a free house (or maybe 1€) in several towns as long as you stay there for at least 5 years and maintain it. The problem is that they are in ghost town where maybe you have a supermarket and 56kb internet connection. Of course no jobs there. You want that? It's not cheap to live in any place where people want or need to live. Same thing as Tokyo in Japan.

[@glennalexon1530]

I think we all recall the last time the people of Berlin demanded that property be stolen from private owners. It was the 1930s...

[@neutral7526]

Pandora Papers! More people would have a place to live if world leaders would stop ripping everyone off.

[@AB-dd4jz]

I'm living very close to Paris and when I signed my contract 3 years from now , before signing I told my tenant that my rent was variable on the contract and that it was a bit unsettling to me, he then told me ok let's make it a fixed price (he usually had people leaving after 1 year) I can't explain how much I'm glad I bargained that because nowaday you can't find anything at this price range anymore, the price went up 100-200€

[@Cyno7]

Good segment. Clear and to the point.

[@ideastshoa6383]

This is a good topics. It would be nice if the problems are investigated deeper, and other aspects of life impacted by the crisis explored. I hope to see a sequel about how governments attempt to solve the crisis.

[@Jay-bh2sk]

Governments won't look into it because they are the problem...

[@Sirflyingmustache]

They didn't mention how many houses are not occupied or sold because landlords keep speculating with the price. Landlord don't say "I'm going to raise rent next year", they say "next year this property is going to be more valuable", because every other landlord will raise their rent, it became normalized at this point.

[@maxwellbernard3446]

Every year the value get higher

[@maxwellbernard3446]

Investing is a stepping stone to success, investing is what create wealth.

[@Sirflyingmustache]

The value doesn't "get higher" they just collectively increase the price. Create wealth? Yeah, for themselves, they charge more for something that was cheaper before, making everything more expensive and driving inflation.

[@Gladenia]

I used to live in Dublin from 2010 to 2015. Already back in this time it was very expensive especially in the city centre. Now it is insane. House/ apartment sharing is common in Dublin and the remaining parts of Ireland also for non-students.

[@Samuel_848]

I have lost hope for my own home some time ago and I don't believe that I will ever get something in a reasonable price.

[@traviswise4446]

Housing in my area is selling at three times the price that average wages have any ability to purchase. Investment and cash buyers ( investors mainly) sweep up any houses. The city believes it is a housing program problem. But being in the residential building industry for 25 years I try (unsuccessfully) to convince them it's a building problem. They can't understand because practical problems are not in the expertise of academic elites, who have become the preferred source of problem solving.

[@traviswise4446]

See the IMF and World Bank manifesto from 1993 that shifts investing strategies of residential housing as a commodity rather than a community. Price increases are due to supply manipulation rather than shortages.

[@whostolemyTV]

DW is one of the better news sources, it seems as though they are less subjective and focus on statistics more

[@pedronovais7020]

This is the result of the liberal market housing... The landlords make an auction for the price of rents they squeeze People money for maximum profit. The governments should put a limit to the cost of rents....

[@ayela562]

Southern Ontario, Canada. 44% rise in housing prices in the last 2.5 years. Affordability index in our area plummeted 14% in one year. Average home price $730,000. Average salary has not changed.

[@california7376]

Remember the days when you also had an interest savings rate of 10% in a bank. It is all down to a system which does not work. They could easily build tiny homes but that would put in any zoning law to stop it. No such thing as 'affordable' housing.

[@bjornr2115]

Glad to see Alan Partridge finally got his second series.

[@timmolloy7574]

A partridge amongst the pigeons