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Comment by ArchD | Hacker News Reader

I never understood the point of having a 'high-value' home that you can't sell anyway because you need a place to live.

Sure, you can say you can move somewhere cheaper and pocket the difference. The problem is that until you actually do that, the cost of living will likely follow the property price increase and hurt your wallet.

Unless most of the homeowners own more than one property.

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I know a few people who have bought condos here recently; they just want to live here.

While I'm sure most of the market is investment based, there is also a decent chunk of people who just want to live here, even if a lot of them are priced out of the market at the moment.

I'm curious what the %s are.

Home equity line of credit (HELOC) rates are cheaper than credit cards so can finance large purchases w/ the equity in your home.

home prices have appreciated far faster than the cost of living during most of people's lives.

don't expect this to continue. In the very very long term, price appreciation of housing will always match inflation.

In the long run, and in the aggregate (planet earth), but in a globalized world with capital from external economies (China) flowing into specific, highly desirable local economies, this old rule of thumb doesn't rule hold up anymore.

In aggregate you might be right, but the issue is that people want to live in specific places and are willing to spend their disposable income to get what they want. As more and more people cross the threshold of absolute poverty more and more money is chasing the same physical assets. Housing is not a commodity asset.

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