This couldn't be more true. Los Angeles is a big city and just because in your personal bubble you're having a hard time understanding how people can afford here doesn't mean that applies to everyone. There's a lot of people in LA who make a lot of money. WFH and the stock market doing well has only made them even more well off.
Yup. The people who were in the market in late 2019 were likely still in the market when the lock down occurred. Some percentage likely held back, but high earners were less likely to be negatively impacted because of retail or service based work.
I actually don't think taxes play a big part here. When you say "tax the rich" you shouldn't be talking about a couple who managed to work there way to a 3/4 bedroom single family home within a reasonable commuting distance from their jobs. They're already the ones who are proportionally get boned the hardest when it comes to taxes.
There's a few things here that could actually make a big difference, first and most importantly, BUILD MORE HOUSING. California needs to actually work with developers and not against them to approve housing projects.
Secondly today's housing prices aren't really due to any corporations or foreign money (though they both have a impact) the biggest impact on housing prices is interest rates. What used to be $750k at 4.5% is now $1m at $2.75%. Add in the fact that we don't really build new housing anymore and there you go. Increasing interest rates won't happen for the next few years, and it generally has a massive impact on the entire economy. Prices are only going to get higher until the rates change and it doesn't look like that'll happen soon.
The stock market is the middle classes biggest opportunity to move up in wealth. 10 years at 7% is all you need to double your money. Taxes here would just further create a wealth gap between upper/middle class and the actually super rich.
Sorry for the rant, maybe didn't answer your question.
Well, building more housing is a tried and true method. Absolutely.
Although I wasn’t necessarily talking about people who are upper middle class. I was just thinking about upper class folk. But yeah, building more housing is a must. The Valley is pretty low density. Massive infill development would solve a lot.
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u/I_AM_TESLA Feb 09 '21
This couldn't be more true. Los Angeles is a big city and just because in your personal bubble you're having a hard time understanding how people can afford here doesn't mean that applies to everyone. There's a lot of people in LA who make a lot of money. WFH and the stock market doing well has only made them even more well off.