From what I have read, there is usually little overlap. Higher homelessness and high priced housing is in areas with low vacancy rates, and vice versa. That's not to say you're wrong about greed being a real problem (it definitely is), but I think it's multifaceted rather than a singular "real" problem.

[–] eestileib@sh.itjust.works 4 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Vancouver BC licensed a bunch of shitty condo high rises to friends of city council.

Nobody bought them so they're sitting empty even as new high rise condos nobody wants are being built.

Solution: the federal government writes a check to the condo developers, and subsidizes some means-tested people to live there paying full price to the developer, in order to "stabilize the real estate market".

Housing prices are being kept artificially high as a matter of government policy.

This is not a "the market will sort it out" thing, even if the market would fix things (ha), it's not even getting the chance.

[–] awfulawful@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 points 17 hours ago (1 children)

This is why I'm trying to make the point that it is not a single problem issue. The market alone isn't going to solve the problem even if you remove corrupt situations like this as you said. But it's also not going to solve the issue just to address "greed" by whatever regulatory mechanisms that might take shape as.

Supply is absolutely part of it that needs to be solved, obviously with reasonable housing and not luxury condos. Other things are too. Anyone who tries to make something as big and complex as housing into a silver bullet, black and white concern is not actually trying to solve the problem. They are trying to do something else and using housing as an excuse.

[–] eestileib@sh.itjust.works 1 points 16 hours ago (1 children)

A lot of the condos aren't even luxurious, a lot of them are small with really shitty kitchens. There's a price where they'd sell, but it would not be a prestige price that could gather enough dues to maintain the building.

But Canada wants to catch up to the UK and the US as a grim police state, so high rises and pocket neighborhoods and data centers it is.

One of the major roots of the problem IS the systemic corruption of every aspect of economic life, including housing, where bought politicians can't make any decision at all unless one of their patrons makes money out of it.

[–] awfulawful@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 points 16 hours ago

Yep, that sort of capture is definitely one of the major causes. It is designed to prevent working people from being able to build wealth through sensible development that they can actually control. Everything has to run through huge developers and big projects that average people have no hope of participating in or holding power over.