Nice article. Was pondering why building a house so expensive now although have so much “progress”. I asked my nephew who is a builder and he said it just is. Labor materials regulations. Permitting can take years especially if not standardized
So is there progress? From engineering standpoint it seems not.
I'll do my best briefly cover some of your questions. I agree with your nephew, but I have some of my own observations, even if I don't have the answers.
1. Craftsmanship is nearly a thing of the past. Builders have to 'manufacture' houses almost in the same way that cars are manufactured in a factory. I have even visited a 'house factory' that builds a house in its entirety inside the factory, in modules, and then ships it to the site for assembly. Both with houses and with cars, manufacturing allows for low and semi-skilled people to do specific tasks without having to comprehend the entire process as a skilled worker would need to do.
2. Materials are generally cheaper. Machines do the work of mining and processing that used to be done by hand. But some of that efficiency is lost to transportation and storage costs. A huge factory operates very efficiently, but it may have to ship worldwide in order sell all its product.
3. We are richer. We feel poorer, but even fifty years ago, people had less. A hundred years ago. it was more common for a three-generation family to live in one apartment. That might mean four, five, or six wage earners paying for one household's upkeep. Now, it is generally no more than two. We wonder why so many people can't afford to buy a house, but that's nothing new. I'm guessing there are more houses per capita today than ever before. We have come to think that nearly anyone who wants a house should be able to have one. It was never that way before. I think home ownership is an essential means to middle class prosperity, but it doesn't just happen. For all the noise that is made lately about increasing housing, government policy takes us in the other direction. We send kids to college to learn things that have negligible market value, rather than send them to trade school to learn to build our infrastructure. A local trade school has a 'wall of honor' of students who have taken their welding program and who have reached a 100K salary within one year. Think about that. Think about how it got that way.
4. Governments take more and more of our income for programs that maybe we don't really need. Various estimates put our overall taxes at about 30%. What have we got to show for it? The irony is that much of that money is going toward housing programs that we wouldn't need, if people could keep their own money and buy their own houses without a program. It used to be that way.
5. We are squandering money on green energy programs that accomplish approximately nothing at all. We pay far more for energy, and the climates keep changing, because climates ALWAYS keep changing. What makes anyone think we can stop it?
OK, that's the tip of the iceberg. I could go on for hours...
I grew up in a relatively poor family but oddly we did not feel poor. In high school I had a quandary as I felt that I should pursue a trade so I did the academic program and the trade program
Teachers told me you are intelligent so go to college. This was 1978 a transition time
Other people told me with college you will be unemployed lol
But I went to college eventually I did well financially but it took many years. I had to change my ethos as hillbilly is not the corporate world. My relatives did fine in building construction
But overall I am happy with my choices as I have seen many things I would not have seen
This is a great point that I failed to mention previously. We have the same thing going on in our city.
During the decades after WWII, there was a huge housing boom, and over that time the average house size approximately doubled from 1200 sq ft to 4000 sq ft. That indicates increased affluence, but also clearly increases housing costs.
Nice article. Was pondering why building a house so expensive now although have so much “progress”. I asked my nephew who is a builder and he said it just is. Labor materials regulations. Permitting can take years especially if not standardized
So is there progress? From engineering standpoint it seems not.
So I was also as a corollary wondering if it’s due to environmental degradation
The cheap wood ie old trees are gone etc
I'll do my best briefly cover some of your questions. I agree with your nephew, but I have some of my own observations, even if I don't have the answers.
1. Craftsmanship is nearly a thing of the past. Builders have to 'manufacture' houses almost in the same way that cars are manufactured in a factory. I have even visited a 'house factory' that builds a house in its entirety inside the factory, in modules, and then ships it to the site for assembly. Both with houses and with cars, manufacturing allows for low and semi-skilled people to do specific tasks without having to comprehend the entire process as a skilled worker would need to do.
2. Materials are generally cheaper. Machines do the work of mining and processing that used to be done by hand. But some of that efficiency is lost to transportation and storage costs. A huge factory operates very efficiently, but it may have to ship worldwide in order sell all its product.
3. We are richer. We feel poorer, but even fifty years ago, people had less. A hundred years ago. it was more common for a three-generation family to live in one apartment. That might mean four, five, or six wage earners paying for one household's upkeep. Now, it is generally no more than two. We wonder why so many people can't afford to buy a house, but that's nothing new. I'm guessing there are more houses per capita today than ever before. We have come to think that nearly anyone who wants a house should be able to have one. It was never that way before. I think home ownership is an essential means to middle class prosperity, but it doesn't just happen. For all the noise that is made lately about increasing housing, government policy takes us in the other direction. We send kids to college to learn things that have negligible market value, rather than send them to trade school to learn to build our infrastructure. A local trade school has a 'wall of honor' of students who have taken their welding program and who have reached a 100K salary within one year. Think about that. Think about how it got that way.
4. Governments take more and more of our income for programs that maybe we don't really need. Various estimates put our overall taxes at about 30%. What have we got to show for it? The irony is that much of that money is going toward housing programs that we wouldn't need, if people could keep their own money and buy their own houses without a program. It used to be that way.
5. We are squandering money on green energy programs that accomplish approximately nothing at all. We pay far more for energy, and the climates keep changing, because climates ALWAYS keep changing. What makes anyone think we can stop it?
OK, that's the tip of the iceberg. I could go on for hours...
Thank you for this it’s quite a good answer
I grew up in a relatively poor family but oddly we did not feel poor. In high school I had a quandary as I felt that I should pursue a trade so I did the academic program and the trade program
Teachers told me you are intelligent so go to college. This was 1978 a transition time
Other people told me with college you will be unemployed lol
But I went to college eventually I did well financially but it took many years. I had to change my ethos as hillbilly is not the corporate world. My relatives did fine in building construction
But overall I am happy with my choices as I have seen many things I would not have seen
Am old but I am happy
Money is a poor measure of a successful life. Happy memories and a clear conscience are as good as it gets.
Yes I like what I do so am good
Best to have money and like what you do
One thing I did notice in my affluent neighborhood is gentrification
The old post world war 2 houses maybe 1000 square feet are being torn down and replaced with 2500 to 3000 square foot houses
Sadly often ancient oaks are cut down as part of this
I remember an old American told me that he was raised in a 900 square foot house 6 people in the family
He said Americans have changed they want two people in a 3000 square foot house
That was one of your points
This is a great point that I failed to mention previously. We have the same thing going on in our city.
During the decades after WWII, there was a huge housing boom, and over that time the average house size approximately doubled from 1200 sq ft to 4000 sq ft. That indicates increased affluence, but also clearly increases housing costs.