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A comment on The housing shortage is larger than you think. Parent comment

Re:The housing shortage is larger than you think by munksbeer on Wednesday December 20, 2023 @06:48AM (#38707604)
> No, that's not a problem. If there is demand -- any kind of demand -- whether it's for people's primary residence, a vacation home, or a short-term rental property, you build more.

In Spain, there was high demand for property prior to 2008. In areas in the UK, there was high demand for property across most of the country. Then credit became harder to get after the GFC, and suddenly the demand just wasn't there. In Spain, property prices in many area more than halved within a year. What happened? Suddenly everyone moved out? No, the demand was just demand from a different source.

Actual house price increases outstripped rent increases by multiples, but suddenly all of that demand to own just disappeared when the credit driven boom went bust (not everywhere).

There is often more to it that just build more.

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Re:The housing shortage is larger than you think by dukeyukey on Wednesday December 20, 2023 @09:10AM (#38708848)
It's worth pointing out that UK house prices are higher than the US, despite incomes being ~30% lower or so, _and_ homes being significantly smaller.

The base demand for housing compared to supply in the UK is that much worse.

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