WARNING! Idaho’s Young May Never be Able to Buy a Home

Young people can’t afford homes. Sure, I’m generalizing. Some are doing just fine, but overall, the cost is beyond reach. The Wall Street Journal reported this week that sales of homes to first-time buyers have plummeted. The story is likely behind the paywall, but you get the idea. Americans, especially the young, are becoming a nation of renters.

The traditional view of a house, dog, and fence is gone. Credit Bill Colley.

Rents have decreased in some parts of the country because the supply of apartments has finally matched demand. I’m not sure Idaho has reached that mark.

Why We Should Worry

A couple of notes. One, there’s plenty of evidence collected anecdotally about a global push to move people into apartments in 15-minute communities. The greenies say this will reduce your carbon footprint, encourage you to walk, and allow you to give up a car. Remember, a car has meant liberty for well over a century. It means you can get away for a weekend and not be trapped within a few blocks of home.

The downside to walkable communities is that you’re much more easily controlled.

Number two. This is going to become a major political issue, and I’ve said in the past that many people in elective office are asleep at the switch. While I don’t see a guy like the fellow who won a mayoral primary in New York surfacing in Idaho, someone will stumble across the demand for affordable housing and exploit the issue. If he can motivate the working poor to vote, politics in Idaho could change very fast.

Affordability is increasingly distant. Credit Bill Colley.

Mike Lee Appears to Have Been Right

A lot of you got sold liberal propaganda about Mike Lee’s proposal to get the federal government out of land ownership. Properly managed, he hoped to let some steam off the housing market and prevent a demagogue from taking advantage of a brewing crisis.

So, here we are. A lot of people in public office are whistling past the political graveyard.