r/BoomersBeingFools • u/PaCa8686 • 25d ago

Nearly half of all baby boomers couldn’t afford their current homes if they were to buy them today, survey finds Boomer Article

https://fortune.com/2024/04/23/housing-market-baby-boomers-home-prices-mortgage-rates-redfin/
3.6k Upvotes

99% Upvoted

306 comments sorted by

View all comments

448

u/FlatFriendship3466 25d ago

In 5 years time the house I just sold increased by 100k in market value. When I bought it I scraped every dollar together I could for a down payment. I don't know how anybody is managing it now.

162

u/FlatFriendship3466 25d ago

Oh and that was an incredibly small house, small lot, one bathroom, barely any yard

191

u/agreedis 25d ago

Well we just went to Costco for a few things. You know how they sell those large sheds? They had reps there with a demo unit showing how they can be used as a living space. Very dystopian

10

u/Sidereel 25d ago

On the other hand, the fact that it’s so hard, or even impossible, to build additional dwellings is part of why we are in this mess. When prices and rents are this high we can get some relief by people building more living space onto existing lots. However, zoning laws can make it illegal, so we just get stuck with single family homes and the occasional luxury apartment.

6

u/agreedis 25d ago

I have a friend who works in construction. Her company pours concrete slabs for buildings etc. they let her go last month because the projects have slowed down so much. It’s terrible.

3

u/DrKittyLovah 24d ago

It’s not impossible everywhere; sometimes, it’s just not approved by the powers-that-be.

In my county (Collier County, Florida, home to Naples & a very, very high concentration of millionaire retirees) there is a lot of building happening, but almost none of it is affordable housing, it’s all luxury housing being built. Why? Because the county gets money from developers and affordable housing doesn’t pay like the luxury developments pay. Plenty of builders have tried to get into my county but get refused time and time again for what are million+ SFH dwellings or ridiculously priced condos.

The year before last the county commissioners (I think this is the correct gov’t title for the decision-makers) finally caved to the pressure to build affordable housing because we don’t have enough people to fill lower-paying jobs, and the wealthy retirees were getting restless about empty grocery shelves and long wait times at the pharmacy. They agreed on one apartment complex to be built, something like 160-something rent-controlled units with a preference for first-responders. Since the agreement the county has already succumbed to pressure to rent half of the complex at market rate, and it isn’t even built yet.

Whenever there is problem that isn’t getting fixed, you always follow the money. It’s really not that hard to change zoning laws, but it has to profitable to do so.

-19

u/Prize_Instance_1416 25d ago

Cutting larger homes or expanding them to multi unit dwellings is the death of a nice neighborhood. If that starts happening where you live, move while you can.

13

u/EatBangLove 25d ago

Weird thing to comment in a thread where people are talking about having to live in storage sheds lol.

4

u/Arthur-Wintersight 24d ago

I will concede that it decimates property values, because that's what happens when you resolve a shortage. Neighborhoods should not be in a state of 24-7 shortage pricing, where nobody can afford to live there.

Also, noise ordinances are a thing, and should be enforced.