The entire reason we have such issues is because housing has become such a popular investment.
Good! "Real-estate as investment" is one factor responsible for the above-inflation rise of property values. It's part of why housing is unaffordable in so many areas. Non primary residences should be taxed out the nose.
Disagree that the wealthy are "exploiting" property rights. The wealthy are exploiting government to push through NIMBY policies that cap supply, similar to how the poor are exploiting government to turn the other cheek and decriminalize squatting.
If you subtly erode property rights by decriminalizing theft you get a hellscape and decay. You haven't helped the poor, you've helped the worst and most shameless moral characters in our society.
My former colleague was a victim of squatting. He owned one apartment and rented to live and some asshole who is apparently a serial squatter moved into his apartment and refused to pay. I will never support the psychopaths doing it and I will never support the ideologues enabling these vampires.
Generally all these issues seem to be made worse by restrictions on new housing development, land use restrictions and a large indigent population who cannot afford housing with their current wage earning ability.
For now it seems like the government’s preferred solution is to not address the root causes and let landlords slowly incur losses and wealthier renters pay through the nose. I believe governments should be doing the exact opposite, they should have landlord and development friendly laws. The alternative seems to be mass homelessness and general societal decay. No one will invest in real estate if property rights cannot be enforced. However, indigent voters are a large vote bank. In California, 60% of adults paid no income tax in 2020.