re: The math for buying a home no longer works, per WSJ

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It's hard to change the format of older single family neighborhoods that were developed in the 1930s-1980s, and frequently there are zoning laws and historic preservation requirements that limit what can be done to those older neighborhoods.

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Greater Atlanta doesn't give a shite about homes from the 40s, 50s, 60s, and 70s.
There has been a huge influx of McMansions in those older neighborhoods that locate inside and just outside the perimeter over the past 20 years.

But I agree with pretty much everything else in your post.

I've got a son in college and I've been watching the market closely in the Marietta/Sandy Springs area.
And townhomes/condos come available all the time under $200k in great condition.
Some on this board will bitch about a family of 4 trying to "survive" in a townhouse as if the homes built in the 50s with the exact same square footage never existed.

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There has been a huge influx of McMansions in those older neighborhoods that locate inside and just outside the perimeter over the past 20 years.

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Yeah I've seen that too. And that doesn't help with the housing problem.

Atlanta needs increased housing supply in those areas. Replacing an old single family home with another (albeit nicer) single family home doesn't do very much to solve the affordability crisis other than drawing high income homeowners inwards and leaving the suburbs to the middle class. That style of redevelopment does contribute additional property tax revenue to the local government and doesn't consume any additional resources so obviously it's desirable to the politicians. But it doesn't increase housing supply unless there's some kind of infill development (Atlanta does a lot of that too).

A lot of towns need to do what Houston did in some areas where an old, obsolete single family home gets torn down and replaced with 3-5 townhomes.

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Some people say buying those affordable houses in bad neighborhoods is racist.

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If we could make those neighborhoods safer.....it would vastly increase affordable housing supply nearer to our city centers.

It has to happen eventually. We should stop clinging to policies that make it economically unfeasible because it disrupts the political makeup of an area.

Also Louisiana needs to ditch that homestead exemption BS.

Well, the math for renting is worse.

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It may work for a few, but it would lead to a very boring life for most.

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That's a preference. Life is what you make of it. If you want to be boring, you can be boring. If you want to enjoy yourself...you will. You can be happy or miserable almost anywhere.

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But we and all of our friends are more social who enjoy amenities that only a city offers, and ultimately wouldn't be happy living so far out.

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Those amenities are luxuries. They aren't necessities. In many cases - young people can't have all of that and still have an affordable house AND a short commute.

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So yeah, it's pretty easy to see why moving to a trailer on a tract of land far from town is not a reasonable suggestion for just about anyone who grew up in a city or suburb.

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It's perfectly reasonable. Just because people don't want to entertain the idea of living farther away from the amenities doesn't mean it's not a valid alternative for many. In fact a lot of people would be better off if they recognized that they don't really need a lot of things that urban living offers. Just because that's what they are accustomed to doesn't mean that life will continue to be that way.

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I basically lived in trailers in the oil field for weeks at a time for 5 years in my early 20's. It was extremely isolating.

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I imagine having zero discretionary income after dumping everything into an house you can't afford is also isolating.

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A lot of towns need to do what Houston did in some areas where an old, obsolete single family home gets torn down and replaced with 3-5 townhomes.

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That's where you run into problems.
The mcmansion doesn't want 5 townhouses next door.
So they fight the zoning variance.
And I don't blame them. They live there too (and first).

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But it doesn't increase housing supply unless there's some kind of infill development (Atlanta does a lot of that too).

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The challenge inside Atlanta is twofold.
They are competing with commercial interests for the same land (i.e. land for large attached multifamily property).
And the city is requiring designated low income housing areas as part of those developments. Red tape limits the amount of developers looking to get in bed with the government on a project. And it Jacks up the price of the non-regulated homes as part of the development.

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Once the affordable houses have already been bought and are no longer on the market and the pool of potential homes being bought and sold by individuals have shrunk as a result, I'd say it then becomes a supply issue (assuming these companies aren't going to offload a lot of property anytime soon). But it's kinda two sides of the same coin I guess.

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No one is offloading houses.

You can't wag your finger at investors when homeowners with 3% interest rates don't want to sell either.

The investors is a demand side issue.
The lack of resale from anyone is a supply side issue.

It is exactly why developers are willing to pay above market (limited supply from all owners).

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Sheboygan, WI, a nice, safe city with about 50,000 people right on the shores of Lake Michigan.

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poor with few career opportunities

average household income is significantly less than the US average