Why Is Housing Inventory So Low? Understanding the US Housing Market (themortgagereports.com)
Insights for Navigating an Uncertain World
Mark Skidmore is Professor of Economics at Michigan State University where he holds the Morris Chair in State and Local Government Finance and Policy. His research focuses on topics in public finance, regional economics, and the economics of natural disasters. Mark created the Lighthouse Economics website and blog to share economic research and information relevant for navigating tumultuous times. View more posts
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Here, I’ll explain it in words that a 5-year-old can understand: most Americans have no money. Builders don’t build homes when nobody has money to buy them. The price of land & MATERIALS have gone bonkers (or conversely, the dollar’s value keeps plummeting) & apparently they don’t have enough illegal drug money to launder to cover those costs. Homes are standing vacant all over the country because people can’t afford to buy them, pay the taxes, upkeep, or utilities, much less PAY A MORTGAGE, because there are so few jobs that pay enough to actually live on. And the prices of existing houses doesn’t drop to meet the “low demand” because someone is artificially propping up the price, e.g., buying up houses to rent out, or to grow marijuana in. In short, the U.S.’s ruling class is exploiting the rest of us back to the Stone Age, & hoping we’ll die before we do something about it.