Thread by Stuart A. Thompson

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an update from the front lines of homeownership: they rich as hell apple.news/AaapclczHTvOsG3bVix3wCQ
This story is everything wrong with housing coverage: framed as an economic boom, interviews realtor insiders, pays no mind to how this is actually all a very bad thing
a thing about assets, especially housing: you want steady moves. if housing falls 25% in a year, well that’s bad. but it’s also bad to increase that much, as it entrenches inequalities. governments shrug off rises and treat it like a good thing.
the 1-2 punch of soaring prices is that while renters fall $100,000s behind owners, those owners can tap equity for fresh cheap debt. HELOCs are higher than ever. Wall Street is literally inventing new ways for homeowners to leverage up apple.news/AvyjpJjRoSoaZlvw-XtSyiQ
it’s among the most significant and devastating economic catastrophes of the pandemic, more harmful than inflation and more long-lasting than the great resignation. but it gets nearly no attention because the people in power think of it like that article: as an economic boom
all this to say I’m very sad about what’s going on. but sadder that no one seems to care about it.
the same people who earned $100,000s for doing… literally nothing at all… are also likely among the people who received $600 billion in misplaced government aide

this equity for already-wealthy homeowners was financed in part by the Fed, who knowingly created asset bubbles by slashing rates and dumping $4.1 trillion into the economy. net good? probably! but not without consequence.

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