[mindslight]

Construction itself isn't that expensive. It's certainly possible to self insure and accept that living in an area prone to fires means your house might burn down. It goes against the prevailing culture of the ever-growing housing bubble, but financialization has to hit its limits some time.

[mauvehaus]

Self-insuring is probably not going to fly with your mortgage lender. If nobody can get a mortgage, and everyone has to self-insure, it's going to 1) drive down housing prices (fewer cash buyers) and 2) guarantee that only people of pretty substantial means can afford to live there (even with lower prices, most people can't come up with a cash payment for a house).

[mindslight]

I did acknowledge it would go against housing bubble culture. It certainly wouldn't be a financially prudent way of obtaining primary shelter, but rather for vacation homes or whatnot. We're mostly talking about rural properties in the woods, right?

[coryrc]

If prices were sane, anybody who bought a house ten years ago currently has enough equity to pay cash.