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How private equity is changing housing

(www.theatlantic.com)
115 points harambae | 2 comments | 09 Dec 25 17:26 UTC | HN request time: 0s | source
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christkv ◴[09 Dec 25 17:59 UTC] No.46208173[source]▶
I'm as pro capitalism as it comes but private equity should not be allowed to operate in the consumer housing market. They can develop and sell houses but cannot hold is my point of view.
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1. Akronymus ◴[09 Dec 25 18:05 UTC] No.46208259[source]▶
IMO the main problem with them is that actual competition isnt really possible. Most of the time, you just can't develop newer/denser housing where they are taking over neighbourhoods, so no real competition is possible which allows them to distort the market for their own gains.
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2. lanfeust6 ◴[09 Dec 25 18:29 UTC] No.46208591[source]▶
it is stymied in part owing to regulatory requirements that makes getting loans at good rates impossible for small developers.

Notwithstanding that, the populist fantasy is that developers won't build more "because they are greedy", as though that math works out. If developers don't leave money on the table, then they'd want to build where the demand exists and it does. They face a number of constraints and bottlenecks, not just for materials/labor, but managing risk. Risk makes loans expensive, everything is built on credit. Some of that risk is compounded by the threat of litigation by NIMBYs, or regulatory requirements, or environmental review, etc.