LogFAQs > #883482545

House prices and rent are too fucking expensive and have been for a long time now. The recession provided no reprieve at all for rent and a brief one for houses (but the latter also experienced explosive wildly unreasonable price increases the prior decade so it was quite warranted).
Housing is treated as an investment first and a place to live 2nd in the U.S., with flippers snatching up homes to sell later for much more, wannabe landlords buying them up to rent out, and foreign investors (most notably Chinese, especially after their stock market went to shit a few years ago) buy them up as a stable asset and to ease the process of getting their kids into the country.

The worst part is people have been brainwashed into thinking higher property and housing valuations are a good thing. No other deteriorating physical asset is expected by society to go UP in value over time. Which is made all the more stupid by the fact that unlike most deteriorating physical assets, property gets taxed every year after the initial purchase on a % based on its valuation. "My house is worth $20,000 more! If I sold it today I'd make a good profit! But I'm 40 and in a stable job so that'd be fucking stupid, I'm gonna be living here for decades still... So I guess all I get out of the change is higher taxes... Yay?"