Young first-time homebuyers and retirees on fixed incomes are struggling to afford housing due to rising costs and taxes

Signals over time

2 observed signals across 1 sources, tracked for 9 days. Confidence: low.

What people are saying Observed

• “Maybe you’re referring to someone who owns multiple properties… But I think if someone owns the house they live in, there should be a cap once they reach a certain age. My Mom is retired and owns her home, but she still effectively pays rent on the property. She has a fixed income and the property tax comes in around 16% of her monthly income. That doesn’t seem too bad, until you see all of her other costs have gone up dramatically because inflation has been high post pandemic. She only has so much money to spend every month, and if her property taxes kept going up too, she’d eventually be unable to afford to live in her house. She only owns her home because she was worried about being secure later in life and prioritized it above things like vacations or cars. For a lot of folks as they age, even if they’re frugal, it’s not easy to survive. If you live for 20-30 years after retirement you’re likely to have your buying power cut by half if not more. With that said, if someone’s home is worth more than say 10x the average price in your area, or your assets are $10+ million[1], I think there’s room for increased taxation. My primary point was simply being a property isn’t necessarily”

  Hacker News · complaint

• “One of the things that's also supposed to be good for the market is for buyers to reach for the biggest home they can qualify for. >younger people getting into the housing market faster. Most places have this but Florida also has much more retirees on fixed incomes. There's another bunch of buyers who can barely afford to get in to begin with, so another target group to be jetissoned after everything they have to give has been extracted. If other expenses are rising due to inflation that's enough of a threat, but taxes will naturally need to rise faster than inflation and that's what puts young first-time buyers over the edge along with the seniors. Unfortunately that's a lot who are in a more precarious position relative to rising costs of any kind. The very, very worst of which are non-discretionary costs. And taxes of any kind are the biggest threat in that category. The primary purpose of property tax is to have a claim to the property by the taxing authority, first & foremost. Not like there's any question. If the "owner" can't pay the tax during any of the perpetually-occurring critical periods, the property is lost relative”

  Hacker News · frustration