I live in Point Loma neighborhood of Southern California where currently, the average price for a one bedroom condo is $515,000 and average price for a regular house is $1,950,000.
In the same area, in 2010, the average price for a one bedroom condo was $140,000 and average price for a regular house was $480,000.
We can say that 2010 was the time that the housing bubble burst so the prices were low at the time, but I believe that was the real market correction.
Look at these realistic and not so realistic housing numbers based on what it should be the standard inflation rate:
| 1 Bedroom Condo in 2010 | 5% Inflation Rate p/year | 7% Inflation Rate p/year | Unrealistic Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| $140,000 | $250,000 | $315,000 | $515,000 |
| Single Family | 5% Inflation Rate p/year | 7% Inflation Rate p/year | Unrealistic Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| $480,000 | $860,000 | $1,080,000 | $1,950,000 |
1 Bedroom Condo in 2010 5% 7% Unrealistic Price $140,000 $250,000 $315,000 $515,000 Single Family 5% 7% Unrealistic Price $480,000 $860,000 $1,080,000 $1,950,000
At the same Southern California area where most people cannot afford to buy a home, the average rent for a one bedroom apartment is about $2,600.
I have no choice to blame this unbelievable housing affordability crisis to incompetent politicians who are running around passing incentives to anyone cross the board whether the buyers are families or individuals who really deserve the incentives and low mortgage rate or investors who do not deserve the low mortgage rate to buy homes based on government’s zero prime rate.
And I also blame the institutional investors and other real estate investors that are exploiting the situation and snatching up any real estate that becomes available and this way they can keep forcing the housing prices to increase.
I’m not a republican or democrat. I don’t like the fact that both sides keep blaming the other party for our current state of our country when most people, poor families with children, single moms and single dads are struggling to afford a home or just a small apartment to live with their children.
Worst of all, I see the democrats keep claiming that they are on the side of low income people, but most low income people, especially the ones with children are having a difficult time finding a place to live.
The democrats blame the housing crisis on “shortage of housing”, I really do not buy that.
There are many data that shows in many areas, for example, Los Angeles, over 67% of homes owned by the institutional investors; these are the investors who buy homes to make a huge profit out of the real estate investment business. Those institutional investors are manipulating the real estate market to keep the prices where they are today.
It is important to know that some of these investors are foreign investors, they are citizens of other countries and snatching up US houses to make profit, while our hard working families with children, single moms or dads with children cannot afford to keep a roof over their heads.
In addition, there are reports that shows that financial institutions are now purchasing and holding on to homes in order to keep the prices high. Some reports shows that about 25% of homes in the US are owned by the financial institutions.
On top of the fact that investors are receiving low rates and tax incentives from government to snatch up properties, there is more unfair laws that benefits investors; did you know that in many cases, the real estate investors are paying much less in property taxes than an owner occupied property?
Please read my story in this article: Why property taxes are assessed unfairly?.
When I just started a family and had a new baby, struggling to pay my high mortgage and property taxes and there was an investor who owned a condo in the same complex with the exact same floor plan and SQFT, but my property tax was twice as much as his property tax and the investor was a wealthy man owing several investment properties, driving a $100K sports car. Why at least we did not get billed the exact same property taxes even though we owned the same exact floor plan in the same complex? Please read my story to see how unfair our laws are!
Both democrats and republicans do not want to solve this housing crisis or take any actions that can correct the major housing price explosion. This is because they worry to loose the vote of homeowners who temporarily feel rich from their enormous home equity gains.
Also democrats love the idea that the disadvantaged people who had bought the expensive homes are paying huge property taxes and democrats love collecting taxes.
But this major housing crisis hurts everyone, even the people who think they are rich from their enormous gain in their home equity.
Small businesses struggle to find employees that they can afford. Grocery stores, restaurants and other retails businesses have no choice to increase their prices so they can pay their employees’ higher wage needs based of the explosive housing prices and rent increases.
So, the high cost of housing whether it is renting or homeownership causes many small businesses to go out of business and also causes major inflation.
People who are struggling to afford paying their rents, or mortgages or property taxes are now facing high cost of food, groceries and other everyday essentials.
You know that there is a major bias in favor of housing price increase amongst politicians and government institutions that oversee national finances because currently cost of higher housing does not count as part of US Inflation Index, so the housing prices can go up as high as 30% a year and Federal Reserve or U.S. Department of the Treasury does not count this major increase as the Inflation Index. That shows that our government is bias and favors housing price increase, and they do not care that this affordability issue hurts most people, especially many families who have children.
It is time for us to show the politician that we disapprove their policies that promote price increase and promote investors to keep snatching up properties and leave poor families without the hope of putting roof above their heads.
If you live in California, you can show your disapproval about how the investors causing the major price increase by writing to: housing@doj.ca.gov.
If you live in other states, you can write the attorney general of your state.
It is time to work together to make housing affordable for most citizens.
If the state has shortage in housing, then there should not be any low interest rate incentives or tax incentive for any investor to keep snatching up houses.
The policy should create a situation that a low income person or a low income family can afford at least a one bedroom condo.
People who have properties with the same value, they should be all paying the same amount of property tax, but currently, the property taxes assessed on homeowners are unfair because two people could own the same value house, but the property tax that they are assessed are different, which is very unfair.
And if you’re a homeowner that uses the house as the primary resident should be paying less property tax than if you’re an investor who have snatched up a bunch of properties in order to make a big profit.
There should be rent control laws in all the areas where the rent and housing are not affordable. The rent control should provide a low income person or a low income family the opportunity to rent or buy a one bedroom apartment.
It is time for our government to do the right thing and revert the major housing affordability crisis that has been created in our country.
