[willis936]

When more people are being priced out of a market than new housing units are added, then yeah they do need to be cheaper to make housing more available. The net result is more stratification, not less.

Ask anyone how to make cheap housing though. No one has a convincing answer. I'm convinced that it's the right question.

[fastball]

Housing becomes cheaper when supply outstrips demand. That is really all there is to it. If there is induced demand due to new housing being built, you just need... more housing.

[rvnx]

Default on U.S. debt.

A U.S. default would spike interest rates, crash bond markets, trigger a credit freeze, and destroy consumer confidence. Mortgages would become unaffordable. Mass foreclosures and job losses would crush demand. Asset fire sales would follow. Housing prices would collapse.

This would also reshuffle assets, so speculators and highly leveraged people would be punished instead of being rewarded.

It will also cleanup the situation for future generations so kids won't have to be under extreme debt to pay back in some way to government, because the older people lived above their means.

[willis936]

That's how you make existing housing cheap. That's not how you make new housing cheap. We still have a shortage.

[TimPC]

The dilemma is you can’t make new housing cheap because if the price falls too much it becomes unprofitable to build and you don’t get new supply.

My city is currently facing this where the interest rate hikes, build tax hikes and falling prices have created a perfect storm of vastly reduced housing starts.

[willis936]

>if the price falls too much it becomes unprofitable to build and you don’t get new supply

This is saying "building is expensive because building is expensive". Why is it expensive and how do we address it to make it cheaper?

[sokoloff]

There’s not a lot of confusion about how to build cheaper.

Build less and worse per unit. Share foundations, roofs, walls, and common areas. Build less square footage per unit. Build less fancy per square foot (cheaper kitchens and baths). Use all standard materials and finishes. Install low-end appliances and HVAC. Everything cookie-cutter; no per-unit changes. Use less land per unit (and maybe less expensive land overall). Have no private outdoor space (or just a tiny balcony).

That’s not well aligned to how to maximize profits from a given unit though (fairly obviously and by intentional design).

[TimPC]

Parts of this do align well with how to maximize profits. Shared walls, progressively smaller units over time and removing balconies have been the story of condo buildings over the last generation. The area that doesn’t line up is the low end apartment fixtures. It turns out people will pay $15k for $10k better of appliances and countertops.

[willis936]

All of those things probably work. Why do we have to give up so much that was considered standard 50 years ago? Recipe for social unrest.

[fragmede]

just subsidize it. raise taxes on people making for than, say, $3 million a year, and give that money to construction companies to build homes. (subject to strict oversight that the money actually be used to build affordable homes)

[jleyank]

Undocumented construction workers and/or shoddy building materials are the traditional methods.

[rvnx]

Myeah, not ideal, by logic it should make future housing even more expensive, as the USD weakens, so importing materials get more expensive.