Re:Priced out of home ownership – 'It makes me want to throw...
by AnthonyMouse on Thursday May 30, 2024 @04:26PM
(#40528221)
> in an uncompetitive market such as a monopoly, additional supply doesn't impact price if it is simply hoarded.
Let's consider whether this can even possibly happen. In order for a monopolist to own all the housing, there would have to be somebody with that much money.
The largest wealth fund in the world is China's, with a total value of around $2.75 trillion US dollars. This is the entire fund across all asset classes. Jeff Bezos with his paltry $200 billion can't even hold a candle to it. By contrast, the total value of US housing is north of $47 trillion dollars. So if you were to double the amount of housing in the US, no one in the entire world exists who could afford to buy all of it. Even the entire government of China isn't within an order of magnitude of it.
Let's consider whether this can even possibly happen. In order for a monopolist to own all the housing, there would have to be somebody with that much money.
The largest wealth fund in the world is China's, with a total value of around $2.75 trillion US dollars. This is the entire fund across all asset classes. Jeff Bezos with his paltry $200 billion can't even hold a candle to it. By contrast, the total value of US housing is north of $47 trillion dollars. So if you were to double the amount of housing in the US, no one in the entire world exists who could afford to buy all of it. Even the entire government of China isn't within an order of magnitude of it.