Matt Davies for November 06, 2023

Why is it that the base republicans always ignore that high prices are governed by the super rich who have no interest in anything except their own pockets?

Bank policies and stupid bankers are another impediment to home ownership.

Greed and hate halts a lot of progress in many aspects of life.

Local zoning is the biggest culprit where I live (MA). It’s hampered housing production of all kinds (multi-fam, single-fam, etc.) and has kept production well below demand for decades. I and many others have been ringing the alarm on this for over 20 years with little success. It’s only in the last few years that it’s been universally acknowledged by people in local and state government that we have a true housing crisis. People are leaving MA for more affordable locales, often just across the border to NH, but many are choosing the Carolinas, Florida and Texas. The worst part is that the demographic fleeing are largely young, educated folks and young families.

My town, for example, has a 2-acre minimum for new single-family housing units for nearly all the buildable land in town. By the time a developer adds up the cost of the raw land, infrastructure costs (roads, utilities, environmental remediations, exactions by the town, etc.) the costly approval process which will take around 3 years, his/her total cost per lot will be north of $500k. Obviously, they will not be selling affordable homes on $500k lots. The cost of the actual home build and profit will mean houses that are well over $1 mil. That’s well above the market here so no developer will take that risk. If you’re lucky enough to find an existing lot in the older, central part of the town, the minimum is 1 acre. That acre will likely cost you $250k and up. We also put a moratorium on 2-family buildings until they zoning board could re-write the regs to attach so many conditions to such approvals that they no longer happen, which was the intent. Multi-family buildings were removed from our zoning menu many years ago. Bottom line is we build next to nothing. Strong demand and very low supply means constantly rising prices.

The high housing prices (including rents) are the result of many things, but not racism, if that’s the type of discrimination implied by the ’toon. The lower income folks are the most severely impacted by high housing burden (which includes a high percentage of minorities), but when prices are what they are now and coupled with high interest rates, the impact is pretty severe on middle income folks, too. The wealthy are largely unaffected. The forces of upward pressure on housing costs are largely attributable to government – local, state and fed.

The real estate market discriminates against biological humans in favor of mega-corporations like Blackrock.

The way this displays on my computer makes this even more powerful than how it would appear on a newspaper. The screen cut it off right below the grassy surface that the white guy is standing on, so it was a moment before I saw the rope ladder and scrolled down to see the cliff labeled “discrimination” and the black guy at the bottom below the broken, frayed ends of the ladder. Definitely gave this toon a stronger kick. Well drawn. It’s easy to forget when we’re dealing with our own problems that some people start out with even more of them.

Meet the new boss. Same as the old boss.

When I applied for my mortgage, I don’t’ remember them asking for my race or religion. All communication was phone or email.

Even many of us who own a home are affected by this situation. Although we could get what seems like a lot of money if we sold our homes, it would take even more money than that to get into another place.

Let us not forget: one parent families with that parent working constantly to make ends meet, crappy inner city schools and the NEA blocking voucher programs, gangs ruling the streets, and no good male guidance to get the kids on the right track.

Is this about the red lining that was created by the Democrats?