Quote Originally Posted by motorfirebox View Post
Private investment is currently allowing housing prices to bubble again even as median wage nosedives.
Are housing prices bubbling again? Maybe in Phoenix, but surely not in Detroit or Chicago. In any event, if private capital wants to buy up foreclosed single-family homes and convert them to rentals, why shouldn't they? Bit of a bandwagon, yes, but not much there in the way of collective liability. Rental stock is needed, the homes typically need a fair bit of work, and getting the work done puts people to work. Hard to see it as a terrible thing.

Speaking of a "nosedive" in median wages is a bit exaggerated. Inflation-adjusted median wages have held n a fairly narrow band between $50-55k since the early 90s, and the push toward the higher end of that bad from 2005-2008 was arguably driven by unsustainable bubble conditions, just like the similar push from 1998-2000. Demographics play a role here as well: income peaks at around age 50, a point the peak of the baby boom passed in 2007. I expect median incomes will decline noticeably as the boom moves past that peak and the leading edge of the boom starts retiring.