Baby boomers are becoming homeless at a rate not seen since the Great Depression

Re:Baby boomers are becoming homeless at a rate not seen sin... by TheOtherHobbes on Monday September 25, 2023 @11:22AM (#37645333)

A non-trivial amount of "property" is speculation at best and concrete money laundering at worst, especially in the largest cities

It's not supposed to saleable or rentable. But it does take up land that could be used for real housing. And it also drives up the perceived value - and price - of both rentals and outright buys.

Rent control may or may not be a solution. But many of these schemes are run through shady shell companies, and aggressive enforcement of financial reporting and taxation would go some way to fixing the problem.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Baby boomers are becoming homeless at a rate not seen sin... by Schiendelman on Monday September 25, 2023 @12:29PM (#37646510)

That's the case in any predictably supply restricted market. That behavior completely disappears if you don't restrict supply, because if people can build more housing, housing depreciates - and investors put their money somewhere else because they don't want to lose it.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Baby boomers are becoming homeless at a rate not seen sin... by BytesAndGears on Monday September 25, 2023 @12:38PM (#37646660)

This is the key. You can’t have a vacant building charging ridiculous rent because of “speculation” while there are 10 similar buildings nearby that charge half the price and have tenants. No sane investor would fund that

[ Parent | on HN ]