[ajxs]

What's a reasonable alternative, just pay someone else's mortgage instead? Go live in the woods and opt out of the economy entirely?

A mortgage is debt, yes. However the money you put into the mortgage is wealth that you're slowly accruing. If you're just renting a property someone else owns you're not accruing anything at all. No one thinks that taking on a 20-30 year debt is a good thing. People only do it out of necessity.

[mikem170]

> What's a reasonable alternative

Housing that costs half as much as it does today, and doesn't grow faster than consumer price inflation?

[ajxs]

What's a reasonable alternative that an individual can make today? The economic pressures that compel individuals to purchase or rent expensive property are ever-present. I agree with you that some kind of systemic regulation is probably necessary to alleviate the current state of the housing market in world cities. Holding out for political change is not a viable solution however. For a prospective owner, the longer you wait to purchase the harder it will be.

[jariel]

I'm not offering an alternative, I'm pointing out the OP didn't make an argument, or rather one that wasn't based on any reasoning.

"just pay someone else's mortgage instead?" - it has nothing to do with what the owner of the property is doing with their money. If rent is a more viable option, then rent.

Ontario, Canada has a soft kind of rent control that works somewhat well for renting, that's an option.

Including housing in inflation calculations would be another 'option' because very low interest rates create bubbles.

Focusing on affordability in zoning.

Taxing rental income.

Taxing homes sales over a certain price.

Increasing or reducing property taxes.

There are a million variables to make the housing situation work better and crude 'own vs. rent' statements without arguments are not going to help.