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Comment by bodeadly | Hacker News Reader

I have a crazy theory: Zillow is directly responsible for the housing shortage and high home prices. Zillow inspires people to move. More moving means houses get fixed up which increases home values. Browsing through homes on Zillow might start out as something to do when your bored but that can easily lead to "what if" thinking. Before Zillow they wouldn't even be thinking about moving.

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The US has not built enough homes to meet demand for over 30 years which is by far the biggest factor in high housing prices. Zillow is not causing people to move more, the number of Americans moving each year is reaching record lows. High housing prices mixed with high interest rates is causing people to stay put because the cost of buying another home is much more costly. You have to go from your old low-interest mortgage to a high-interest one and high housing prices means realtor fees are also sky-high.

Agree that Zillow and similar make it much easier and top of mind. Home flipper shows on HGTV are also part of the equation since it looks very simple and like guaranteed profit.

"You put $40,000 into your kitchen and bathroom remodel, so that will increase the value $100,000".

There's definitely value for opportunity cost, but oh boy do some of those shows exaggerate it to the point of absurdity. Especially when it's a builder-grade remodel.

I'm not sure anyone is doing that when they're bored without some level of genuine interest.

Interesting idea, I would argue the opposite on the basis that easier, more frequent transactions in a market improves price discovery and keeps the housing price closer to the "true" price based on supply and demand.

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