Yeah, this has been going on for quite a while now. It means there are fewer houses on the market which means the prices of real estate keeps going up, making the cost of housing unaffordable to new home buyers.

A shortage of homes on the market also causes rents to increase as well. It has gotten even worse as landlords use AI software to determine the most they can charge for rent on their properties.

Before I left Los Angeles in 2010, I had some acquaintances who could not afford their increased rants and ended up living out of their cars. They were still working, but they just could not afford a place to live.

It is basically corporate entities, organized as private equity firms or REITs (Real Estate Investment Trusts) that buy up properties and make them rentals. Also some are buying mobile home parks and jacking up rents, causing financial ruin of many of the residents, many of which are retired and no longer working.

Real Estate by itself over time will increase in value as long as the population increases, increasing demand. There may be dips in prices, but as long as the population is there, the prices will alwys rebound again.

Pretty much every house that owners abandoned to the banks when they found themselves owing more than their house was worth from 2008-2010, would be ahead of the game today if they hung on until property values increases again. In the meantime, a lot of these "investment companies" picked up a lot of properties at low prices.

It's all just the rich making sure that persons who aren't rich can't or won't be able to build or acquire any wealth of their own.

I get at least 5 emails, several texts, snail mail, and sometimes a phone call offering to buy my house every week. Rent increases of 100 percent aren't unusual. Meanwhile, homeless encampments proliferate. It's a growing trend and a real problem.

If I was a Capitalist, that is what I would do.

Is this in the US?

Disaster can happen to anyone and a little of it has happened to me. I get by well in the world living in my area with a $191 a month mortgage. Many must think I am crazy coz they wanna buy my place. Yes, it is a mobile home but next door to me is a 3 unit apartment building that pulls in bigtime rent.

Sadly, you're 100% correct. We need some rules to keep home ownership in the hands of citizens rather than in the hands of banks. Our houses are how we save for the future.