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by ihyfhgyfhth 1890 days ago
12% of US detached housing is vacant. Property is being held by speculators who are betting that interest rates will fall and increase the value of property. No amount of supply will meet the demand of an asset class that increases in value by 6% a month.
3 comments

Interest rates are at historic lows. The Fed rate going negative has been discussed in months gone by. Lender money to borrow is a little tougher as with rates so low they may keep it in equities, or buy GME or Bitcoin where they have higher upside potential.
Buying GME to offset losses in real estate is the most 2021 thing I've heard. I don't know if I should laugh or cry.

The only thing I have to say is that I would expect the government to push more federally backed mortgage loans at their preferred interest rates if they sense a slowdown in private lending. Heaven forbid markets correct themselves.

Ah, Sorry, I come from the perspective of Canadians, you should see how insane the Canadian Market is right now.
Do you have a source for this? Trying to dig through census data but can't find this specific metric.
Total Housing Estimate - https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/ETOTALUSQ176N

Vacant Housing Estimate - https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/EVACANTUSQ176N

So, looks like closer to ~11% as of that data.