shortage of affordable housing for young adults

The solution to finding affordable housing is to move to where they exist. The problem then becomes finding employment.

 

Do the math; supply equals demand...this would imply no shortage...a perfect balance...

 

I'm guessing you have not commuted in the main traffic arteries of our high-employment centers? Average 1 hour commutes can often be 2 hours! There is a limit how far a person will commute in this horrific traffic...

 

That would only be true, IF the cost of all available housing matched the means of all those seeking to acquire.

 

And you would be wrong. Some years before I retired, while renting an apartment walking distance from my job I moved to where rent was a couple of hundred dollars less each month but resulted in a 37 mile trip to and from work each day and to reduce the time in heavy traffic I changed from working the day shift to the evening shift. And with some effort I then got my employer to allow me to work a 4 day work week, 10 hours each day, and in emergency situations I was able to work from home and be paid without wasting time traveling to/from the office. I've never found a need for government/union involvement in my employee/employer working relationship.

 

there is a perfect balance, supply equals demand
in a free market. There is no shortage in housing as long as the free market is allowed to operate. This of course is not to say we all don't wish everything was cheaper! It seems to me, for example, we lack affordable Rolls Royces for old people.

 

Cost is not a factor; if supply equaled demand we have perfect harmony...

 

Lucky you...

 

there is a shortage of affordable medical care for all Americans except those who get it free.

 

But many unoccupied homes, or massive government subsidization.
The thread doesn't even imply there is a shortage of housing which probably isn't the case at all, simply that the existing housing is priced higher than what is affordable to a large number of the population.

 

Lucky? Simply making decisions based upon my means, needs and wants without becoming indebted.

 

On a daily basis, in general, is it a higher priority for you to have health care or a roof over your head?

 

The only solution to provide 'affordable' housing to the masses is for government to fund and build 100's of thousands of apartments, that are subsidized, and are non-profit...

 

Luck plays a role in every one's life...

 

Open bay barracks would be a much less costly solution.

 

I never sat around waiting on luck, I made my own.

 

"Back in the day, I did this " "When I was nineteen, I went out and shared a ramshackle old house with 3 other friends"

The older generation keeps telling the younger generation about what they did, 40 years ago. But that was 40 years ago.
How well would you have been able to get by if the rent levels had been triple what they were back then?
Still would've managed to "make your own luck"?

 

1 in 10 young adults have been homeless over the past year, survey finds

Difficult Job Market for the Young

http://nj1015.com/young-adults-today-no-school-no-job-living-at-home-with-mom-and-dad/

 

Actually, closer to 50 years ago, but YES I would make my own way by perseverance and effort which I've always found to produce greater results than waiting on something which could be called 'luck' to occur.
If there are no jobs or affordable housing where you are, that should be an indication that you are in the wrong place which greatly diminishes your chances of becoming lucky.

 

Nice exposé of the effect, while totally disregarding any attempt to identify causation.

 

That used to be easy. The notification came in the mail and in no time at all you were in the barracks.

 

It's not just young adults who can't afford it.

 

We could reinstate the draft, and draft only the homeless and/or unemployed. And instead of a border wall build a border barracks spanning the nearly 2,000 miles which could easily provide a million or more rooms and make it extremely difficult for illegal entry into the U.S.

 

Inflation has an effect on everyone, some more positive while others more negative.

 

Inflation makes mortgages cheaper but makes asset prices nominally higher.

So if you are intending to save up and buy a house in cash, it is bad for you, but if you intend to borrow the money and buy one, it helps you considerably.