"Grim" Affordable Housing Study by Harvard. An opportunity?

[Frankie Woods]

A new study was conducted by Harvard analyzing the impact of decades of housing policies that disincentive affordable housing.  Declining inventory of affordable housing are preventing first time homebuyers from purchasing and pushing low income tenets out of city.  Is this an opportunity for mid western cities with better access? 

 ref: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/housing-crisi...

[Omar Khan]

@Frankie Woods I 100% (as always) agree with @Jay Hinrichs. Affordability is a very nebulous term. 

FYI: I didn't even know one could buy a house for under 100K before I moved to the US. The average apartment (forget about detached home) prices in Canada are insane. It's a similar case in most other parts of the world. 

Housing prices aren't the only factor folks are looking at (contrary to what folks on BP feel). The Midwest can't attract quality jobs fast because there is little or no infrastructure/ecosystems needed for high-growth, high-paying jobs. 

E.g. my sister and BIL work in Silicon Valley and (like everyone else) complain about housing prices in Mountain View. But they would not, in a million years, consider moving to the Midwest even though they frequently visit for outdoor activities/road trips. Why? They won't be able to make 50% of the money they if they move. 

My physician uncle, an immigrant who moved to the KY 30 years ago, complains how his med interns/students are leaving KY to go to other parts of the country where there will make less money. That fact alone astounds him and his colleagues (his colleagues are not immigrants) because they have been conditioned to work, work, work. Why does this astound them? Generational shift; younger generation likes to not work for the sake of working and have a different concept of what quality of life means. 

Midwest prices can be as low as they can get but till high growth industries don't move there we will continue to see a migration away. 

Also, high prices are often an indicator of how attractive a market is. You don't want real estate prices crashing where you live/invest :)