I'm in Australia as well, and so I've seen this housing issue first hand. I have two ways of looking at this.
I am complete agreement with you btw, and I don't think your idea is that deeply radical. I've been saying this for years.
I'm not concerned. I don't own a house, I've never bought into the "everyone must own their home, it's the greatest investment possible" mentality. To all the people who say "but real estate has gone up 30% in the last year", that's fine. You can send your condolences to my crypto account (or stocks which are also up more than 30%).
If you look at the people who REALLY did change the world, was it really those who created a social movement? There were a few, Nelson Mandella, Gahndi, etc. But you can also look at those who provided an alternative, or a new way of looking at the world. Of course, our current hero in this realm is Elon Musk, he didn't lobby to put a cap on fossil fuels, he built a solution.
Millennials are purchasing houses at a lower rate than any time before in history, AND people are becoming more mobile (well, before the pandemic anyway). With population collapse, will housing continue to be a good investment over the next 50 years?
I personally believe the real estate as investment will decrease in popularity. Why? Because you can't really sell just part of your house, I can sell a bit of stocks if I want to go on a trip, or buy a new car or something. If all my money is in my house, I have to sell the whole thing. I can only sell it to somebody who wants to buy the whole thing, and that person either wants to live in it, or wants to rent it out. My house is of less value to somebody in Italy (as an example) than it is to someone in Australia. With most other investments, it doesn't matter where geographically the person is, it's the same value. Lastly, a house, has upkeep, taxes, maintenance, and the design goes out of style and needs to be updated.
So, I'd suggest that rather than try to lobby to change society or create a "social movement", you figure out a) what you can do for yourself to improve your investment position without real estate, b) how you can help improve the lives of others.
Some people have said to me that housing in Australia will always be valuable, because as the population shrinks, immigration will just let more people in, but I believe this is also a flawed argument as it ignores the improvements to quality of life that are happening in the places that would normally be the source of immigration, and the fact that these countries will also likely see decreased birth rates as they continue to develop.
I am complete agreement with you btw, and I don't think your idea is that deeply radical. I've been saying this for years.
I'm not concerned. I don't own a house, I've never bought into the "everyone must own their home, it's the greatest investment possible" mentality. To all the people who say "but real estate has gone up 30% in the last year", that's fine. You can send your condolences to my crypto account (or stocks which are also up more than 30%).
If you look at the people who REALLY did change the world, was it really those who created a social movement? There were a few, Nelson Mandella, Gahndi, etc. But you can also look at those who provided an alternative, or a new way of looking at the world. Of course, our current hero in this realm is Elon Musk, he didn't lobby to put a cap on fossil fuels, he built a solution.
Millennials are purchasing houses at a lower rate than any time before in history, AND people are becoming more mobile (well, before the pandemic anyway). With population collapse, will housing continue to be a good investment over the next 50 years?
I personally believe the real estate as investment will decrease in popularity. Why? Because you can't really sell just part of your house, I can sell a bit of stocks if I want to go on a trip, or buy a new car or something. If all my money is in my house, I have to sell the whole thing. I can only sell it to somebody who wants to buy the whole thing, and that person either wants to live in it, or wants to rent it out. My house is of less value to somebody in Italy (as an example) than it is to someone in Australia. With most other investments, it doesn't matter where geographically the person is, it's the same value. Lastly, a house, has upkeep, taxes, maintenance, and the design goes out of style and needs to be updated.
So, I'd suggest that rather than try to lobby to change society or create a "social movement", you figure out a) what you can do for yourself to improve your investment position without real estate, b) how you can help improve the lives of others.
Some people have said to me that housing in Australia will always be valuable, because as the population shrinks, immigration will just let more people in, but I believe this is also a flawed argument as it ignores the improvements to quality of life that are happening in the places that would normally be the source of immigration, and the fact that these countries will also likely see decreased birth rates as they continue to develop.