Re:Housing is at the root of many of the rich world’s proble...
by anovikov on Wednesday August 17, 2022 @12:33PM
(#32498505)
OK, so returns from 1870 to 2015 are same for housing and stocks. Which again proves that there's nothing morally wrong about housing prices, if these investments are replaceable, one can always invest in stocks to save up to buy housing (at least on average, that is).
Re:Housing is at the root of many of the rich world’s proble...
by namlem on Wednesday August 17, 2022 @03:33PM
(#32500715)
On the contrary, housing shouldn't appreciate. It's bad for the economy as a whole, and especially for young people, for homes to be an appreciating asset. Housing should be a commodity, not an investment.
You and anovikov reach different conclusions because you're looking at different time scales. You're citing returns from 1870-2015; he's citing returns for the last 40 years, 1980-2020. The comment and paper you linked itself explains why: housing and equity returns were very comparable from the period 1870-1945, but equities significantly outperformed from 1945-present. I would bet on suburbanization as the cause: the U.S. embarked on a massive homebuilding project from 1945-2000, which kept supply high and prices relatively low during that period. Returns to housing since 2009 (when the bottom fell out of the homebuilding market) have much more closely matched equities.