ᐅ Is the real estate market increasingly forcing families to build their own homes?
Created on: 6 Apr 2019 11:35
T
Thierse
Actually, we would prefer to avoid building. Unfortunately, existing properties within a 20 km (12 miles) radius have become quite expensive, and affordable rental houses with small gardens are simply scarce.
Until now, we have been living in an old rental apartment without a garden. We would like to change that, but there is a lack of options. The listings on various platforms are overcrowded with families looking for affordable housing.
Who is familiar with this situation, and how do you deal with it?
Until now, we have been living in an old rental apartment without a garden. We would like to change that, but there is a lack of options. The listings on various platforms are overcrowded with families looking for affordable housing.
Who is familiar with this situation, and how do you deal with it?
The correlation is very strong, but drawing any causal conclusions, regardless of direction, inevitably leads back to speculative talk.
As beautifully stated in the Bible:
"For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance; whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them."
As beautifully stated in the Bible:
"For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance; whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them."
H
hampshire16 Apr 2019 16:51Tassimat schrieb:
The correlation is very high, but drawing any causal conclusion in either direction inevitably leads back to pub talk. I have summarized a fundamental part of the study and addressed it somewhat superficially. That is true. Let me put it another way: We are a wealthy country where people live with a relatively low average private wealth. France, Italy, Spain, and Portugal are less wealthy countries, yet their average private wealth is significantly higher. The causal connection with the proportion of owner-occupiers is widely accepted. Our net wage levels, however, are higher than in the countries mentioned. Clearly, something is different in how the relationship between living costs, consumption, and wealth accumulation works here.
C
chand198616 Apr 2019 17:11hampshire schrieb:
The causal link with the share of homeownership is widely accepted. No. It is easy to imagine a wealthy tenant society as well as one where every mud hut belongs to its occupant.
A country’s “wealth” is the total national wealth, not just private wealth.
hampshire schrieb:
Our net wage level, on the other hand, is again higher than in the countries mentioned. What matters is the level of labor unit costs. Wages must be put in relation to productivity because this determines prices. Germany has the lowest labor unit costs, reflected in the highest export surpluses in Europe (and now worldwide).
Conclusion: On average, Germans earn far too little. This makes the issue of wealth accumulation less surprising.
hampshire schrieb:
is widely accepted. What is widely accepted in economics today is often wrong. The mainstream economic theories practiced worldwide are unscientific and simply nonsense. Therefore, “consensus” is not a good measure for economic questions.
H
hampshire16 Apr 2019 17:32chand1986 schrieb:
The "wealth" of a country is the total national wealth, not just private wealth. The combination of a wealthy country and low average private wealth is noticeable.
The comparison of unit labor costs, prices, and wage levels you mentioned does not explain this within the European context.
C
chand198616 Apr 2019 18:02Labor unit costs in Germany have lagged behind those of comparison countries for the past twenty years.
So this is certainly a factor.
However, another important point is: What could be passed on as inheritances after the reconstruction following World War II? More assets were destroyed here than in the comparison countries you mentioned, so one had to start again from a lower level of wealth. This effect must still be visible a few generations later.
Thirdly, I see the attitude of Germans towards debt. This differs outside Germany. We have a high savings rate in the private sector. But wealth is built through investments (including in one’s own home), and investments are typically made using debt. However, the German private sector is less indebted than private sectors elsewhere. This has been the case for decades.
The Swabian housewife also only lives in her owner-occupied home on credit…
So this is certainly a factor.
However, another important point is: What could be passed on as inheritances after the reconstruction following World War II? More assets were destroyed here than in the comparison countries you mentioned, so one had to start again from a lower level of wealth. This effect must still be visible a few generations later.
Thirdly, I see the attitude of Germans towards debt. This differs outside Germany. We have a high savings rate in the private sector. But wealth is built through investments (including in one’s own home), and investments are typically made using debt. However, the German private sector is less indebted than private sectors elsewhere. This has been the case for decades.
The Swabian housewife also only lives in her owner-occupied home on credit…