[gruez]

>Otoh, their cost of capital is lower

According to [1], the average rate (or prime rate?) right now is 3.18% for a 30 year mortgage. OTOH, rate for 30 year "High Quality Market Corporate Bond" is 3.38%.

> and they are more efficient managers than individual homeowners, so this might be a more efficient way of providing housing.

They might be more efficient at being landlords, but that doesn't exactly translate into higher efficiency when it comes to providing housing. Owning a house and doing the repairs yourself is probably much cheaper than hiring someone to do it, not to mention you save all the taxes on the imputed rent.

[1] http://www.freddiemac.com/pmms/

[chii]

> that doesn't exactly translate into higher efficiency when it comes to providing housing.

why doesn't it?

If a corporation can, with the same amount of capital as an individual, produce more units of housing, then isn't that a desirable result?

Also, regarding owning a house being cheaper - it really depends on the savings from taxes. If you own, you lose the opportunity cost of the locked-up capital in the asset, which might be high.

But of course, there are non-financial concerns with buying vs renting. The higher income earner is more likely to want to buy, as their taxes would be more efficient that way. And the guarantee that you cannot get kicked out, unlike renters, is a good plus.

[rdtwo]

The big real estate holding groups are probably getting way less than 3%. How much is burkshire paying for 10 year bonds? Less than the us government?

[gruez]

>The big real estate holding groups are probably getting way less than 3%.

But how much? The 30-year treasury rate is currently 2.35%. That's lower than the mortgage rate I quoted earlier, but there isn't much wiggle room either.

>How much is burkshire paying for 10 year bonds? Less than the us government?

Why on earth a corporate bond have less yield than a government bond? US government bonds are literally the safest investment instruments available.