"Homeownership is at its lowest level in 18 years, but housing prices are rising. Why? Because banks are creating real estate scarcity by buying up homes and selectively stalling foreclosures.
CounterPunch contributor Mike Whitneyreminds us that in recent years the Federal Reserve has kept lending rates low. This has allowed Private Equity firms to buy up lots of homes with money they have to pay very little to borrow. The result is the appearance that Americans are buying again. But as the homeownership rate shows, they’re not. Investors are, and this is keeping prices artificially high."
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Investors are buying condo units and single family homes and renting them out to people, many of whom have lost their homes to foreclosure. Are we headed toward being a nation of renters instead of homeowners?
2 comments:
Big implications for Privatopia given it was created for a growing nation of homeowners in the 1960s. As you (the perfessor) have noted, HOA governance is very reliant on individual homeowner volunteer participation and this model of governance already suffers from multiple weaknesses.
"Investors are buying condo units and single family homes and renting them out to people, many of whom have lost their homes to foreclosure."
Not in all the subdivisions and condominium projects where CAI management companies and attorneys have advised boards to adopt those anti-renter provisions. Such properties are just as financially toxic to the "investors" as they were to the former owners.
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