Housing might be the major wealth store for the middle class (although I doubt the lower class is collectively storing much wealth in housing), but its the rich who own most of the land and collect rent from most of the lower class and some of the middle class. The rich may not care so long as they collect checks, but I think they stand to lose the most in absolute dollars if more housing is built that they don't own.
IMO, its the middle class holding up the show because they are actually owning homes, and even though they may never actually sell their home they cling to an ever rising hypothetical valuation.
47% is still substantially lower than housing owned by the rich. On top of that, the housing owned by the lower class tends to be lower value. They probably “own” their house through big mortgages, which is just another form of rent paid to the rich.
> 47% is still substantially lower than housing owned by the rich.
Yes, which is 80+%. Though it's only slightly less than the homeownership rates for the middle quintiles.
> They probably “own” their house through big mortgages, which is just another form of rent paid to the rich.
That article also mentions that home equity constitutes 38% of total assets--the largest chunk--for homeowners in the bottom quintile. Which AFAICT (in a quick search) is greater than the top quintile but less than the middle quintiles, though it's unclear if those other numbers are for just homeowners in those quintiles, or overall averages.
Unless I’m missing something, that’s quintiles of absolute wealth. I’d be curious how the data shakes out for the lowest quintile calculated relative to costs of living.
IMO, its the middle class holding up the show because they are actually owning homes, and even though they may never actually sell their home they cling to an ever rising hypothetical valuation.