There could be some weird world in which it's popular for house prices to go down.
If that becomes the case, then populist politicians will eventually get elected and let them fall.
I don't see this happening soon, but stranger things have happened.
If that becomes the case, then populist politicians will eventually get elected and let them fall.
I don't see this happening soon, but stranger things have happened.
For many people, the primary goal isn't lower house prices overall, but a change in approach to how we approach housing (especially zoning) in order to make shelter affordable.
It's not that everyone wants McMansions for cheap, but rather they want to see things built that are reasonable in size and affordable for normal workers. This could be anything from large concrete block apartments (they can be made cozy and nice!) to tiny house villages.
There are many great ways to live which are literally illegal to build in the USA due to archaic and regressive zoning laws, minimum parking requirements, etc.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CCOdQsZa15o
Is there anywhere that doesn't consider a house a depreciating asset?
Housing differs from cars as it is much more common to see people rebuild houses back to new condition, to upgrade them to use modern technology, etc. That effort can retain the outward value of a house as you basically have a new house again, but the deprecation cost is paid during those updates and modifications. You haven't escaped it.
The USA
So, although no one expects house prices to go down - there is an implicit understanding that the actual house depreciates - even if inflation is offsetting that and the land underneath it is pumping the total value up.
Lets imagine the cost to build a house goes up 3% per year - if your house deprecates 3.7% per year - it would only go down .7% in nominal terms (3.7% in real terms).
If the value of the land is 50% of the "home" value, and that appreciates by 6% - then your "home value" goes up in nominal terms & real terms - but not as much as it would have if the house didn't need maintenance (depreciation).
years of earthquakes have also meant the japanese have had to update their houses to newer codes, or else they just collapse. so it's common to just rebuild.
But Generation X holds the balance of power. They are the wildcard.
Good luck hoping for them to vote on tanking house prices.
That would be about half of them.
Baby Boomers + Gen X = 134 million
Millenials + half of Gen Z = 107 million
Young people are outnumbered, and it’s going to get worse.
Numbers from <https://www.statista.com/statistics/797321/us-population-by-...>
Not by the elderly, though. Just like I said, and by your own numbers, Generation X holds the balance of power. They are not yet elderly. Even the oldest ones are still in their 50s – the youngest are still in their early 40s.
https://www.statista.com/statistics/184902/homeownership-rat...