re: What do you think is causing the housing slump?

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Now who’s fault is that?

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Yours

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the high price of autombiles which you have to have is contributing to slow housing market

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Among other things.

Student loans are holding people back.
People are moving to larger cities where competition for housing is growing.

Also, people are holding on to properties they bought in the downturn hoping to make a buck. Most people would rather rent than buy because housing is high and people change jobs and locations much more frequently these days.

At some point with the high housing prices someone has to take a loss. Either the person who overpays for it or the person sitting on the "investment".

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Adjusting for inflation, home prices have risen faster than incomes

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A silly stat because "homes" aren't widgets.

Build a 1979 home today and it will NOT be 3x the price. Hell, built it with modern amenities but same floor plan, it won't be 3x the price.

Speaking of which, every time this subject comes up, I can't help but point out that if prices and quality of a product are going UP, that isn't being driven by mirrors!

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And, can I point out that while the people pointing out current student debt are definitely correct that it affects economic decisions, people need to stop acting like this shite was imposed on people or something. People in the 70s and early 80s didn't have student debt largely because A LOT fewer of them went to college! And before someone says, "well that's cause you could get a decent job without a degree", might I point out that you have the cart before the horse. Our genius govt decided throwing money around willy nilly to let basically ANYONE with a pulse go to college was genius. The argument was, "people with degrees make more" which, typical of govt, reflected the ignorance that this was because people with degrees were MORE RARE! Basically, the govt created a massive debt crisis by throwing this money around and simultaneously, completely watered down the value of the thing they were funding by making it NOT rare. And, on this front, I'd have tons of sympathy with younger folks if THEY would recognize this problem but nooooooo! If you suggest reducing federal subsidization of higher education in the form of loans........young people will basically threaten to burn the place to the ground. I'm not going to sympathize with your house being on fire if you demanding more gasoline to throw on it!

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Yeah man lots of very solid points. Hindsight is 20/20, right?

Stop acting like “young people” even knew what they were getting themselves into when it came to college and student debt.

I personally sat in an office filling out my FAFSA being told it doesn’t matter how much I borrowed because I can get a high paying job after I finish my degree and pay it all back soon. I was young, 18 and extremely impressionable and dumb. My father sat next to me and Co-signed. I’m willing to be there are thousands of people just like me that experienced the same exact thing.

Our entire lives we were told all through school, by family and church...go to college and get a degree bc that is what you are supposed to do...only to realize that we were all pretty much being fleeced by scam created by our govt to in debt an entire generation with the sheer luck of a Great Recession and almost depression to deal with as well.

Sorry we aren’t all financial geniuses. Sorry we fell for the scam. Most of us are doing what we can to try and do the right thing. Jesus Christ.

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No you won't but that's part of what makes it an unfair comparison.

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My point was that student loans don't have to be back breaking.

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Except odds are you get paid less than what you would if you entered the workforce in a stronger economy, and that salary history follows you forever.

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I don't buy this.

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Stop acting like “young people” even knew what they were getting themselves into when it came to college and student debt.

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Well, I mean, who is to blame if an 18-22 year old is somehow unaware that going $100K in debt to get an English Lit degree is likely going to be a challenge?

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I personally sat in an office filling out my FAFSA being told it doesn’t matter how much I borrowed because I can get a high paying job after I finish my degree and pay it all back soon.

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You weren't under a rock. You literally lived in a time with the most access to information in history! It's not like the Starbuck's barista with a Master's in Women's studies meme started last year.

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Our entire lives we were told all through school, by family and church...go to college and get a degree bc that is what you are supposed to do.

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Absolutely. And, they were all correct.

HOWEVER, just because something is a good thing doesn't mean that the concept of value ceases to exist. For some retarded reason, we've reached a point where people literally get MAD at you if you're my age and say, "well, if you're gonna get student loans for all 4 years, you probably shouldn't major in dance!"

I knew a guy that was over $100K in debt after getting a music degree in Euphonium PERFORMANCE! Not even education, but performance! Can't even teach school with that shite. So, the concept of "A degree", wherever it came from, needs to die.

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Sorry we aren’t all financial geniuses. Sorry we fell for the scam. Most of us are doing what we can to try and do the right thing. Jesus Christ.

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Well, I mean, why did you fall for it?

Do you actually need to be a financial genius to know that 100K in debt while studying for a degree that has virtually no demand isn't a great idea?

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Maybe this generation is more "Italian" in nature, where they are perfectly fine, as are their peers and the people they date, with living at home til 30, having mom cook their meals, and spending their money on cars, clothes, and dating.

Im 58 and my parents instilled upon me once I got out of school to buy a home, maybe the culture has changed.

My point is, maybe it has as much to do with culture as it does affordability, and the fed reducing rates isnt going to fix it.

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I never understood buying a house before marriage and even before kids. You also saw that prior to the 2008 bubble that it made more sense, financially, to rent than to buy. I've heard, haven't confirmed, from younger folks working for me that the rental market is cheaper than buying in Houston.

Not everyone is living at home in their mom's basement, a lot of young pros are just enjoying being single and prefer renting to the responsibility of a house...which is an investment of sorts, but I often think people overlook the "full-cycle" costs of the "investment".

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A slowdown in foreign capital flow into US real estate, and a topping out of demand for higher priced homes. There’s a price point that people can’t pay, no matter how much they want to.

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The home builders generally quit building starter homes after the 2008/2009 meltdown. All new construction was multi tenant and higher end single family. I guess the folks who invest in real estate figured out the young folks who traditionally buy starter homes in the 1200-1500 sq ft size were not buying due to school loan debt or they couldn't qualify for home loans due to stricter loan qualifications guidelines. I know in the KC area the multi tenant construction boom was probably like other parts of the country and it's predominantly where the under 35 demographic is living.

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Have you considered moving further away from the city (into the country) and having a longer commute? That is what I did. I bought my first home at age 24. It was a tiny 2bed\1bath on 4 acres. But it was cheap. I lived there and saved and at 27 bought another house that was larger and nicer since I was starting a family. My commute was about 25-30 minutes from both houses. You also mentioned a car payment. If possible sell it and buy an older one. If you are starting out a car payment is a horrible financial decision. The depreciation will kill you, but if that same money was put towards a home you would probably have some appreciation instead. Also in my area the schools in the country were really good and had smaller class sizes... Just something to consider

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Of course. I would love to do that...my wife on the other hand. We found a house out in the country outside Nashville. It was somewhat cheaper but calculating the traffic to get into the city for work coupled with daycare just did not make much sense. Gas alone didn’t make it much worth it.