The current leverage my family has is their home equity, but I honestly plan to invest within the next year due to capital shortage.

The truth is supply shortage is BECAUSE of the "net margin crisis". 

The strongest trend will probably remain the migration from north to south (FL, TX, NC), out of CA and IL and also a little more away from heat, water shortage, wild fire smoke and storms.Real estate markets move so slow, that short term is realitvley easy to predict based on leading indicators.

I work in a medical field and there's always a shortage. 

The local community has a housing shortage and needs more SFR and Multi-family properties to be available for rent.

Two contributing factors are high construction costs and regulations that make obtaining a construction permit difficult.California already has a large housing shortage.

In the Reno, NV area, there aren’t many new apartment starts, and with tech jobs coming from CA, there’s going to be a shortage, which is driving up purchase prices.

Waukegan is 5 minutes from a huge Naval base so there's usually no shortage of military families to rent to.

Balloons coming due with higher interest rates, China market, China production, Manufacturing production moving back to the US, Worker shortages, Workert pay hikes, Ukraine/Russia food and fertilizer misses, Oil prices increasing due to the OPEC Q1 production curtailments in place, Houthi issues, Panama Canal Water issues, Illegal immigration impact (buy one of those office buildings and rent for $10mm per year for Illegal housing, take advantage) social benefits required, Climate change believe it or not- Buy or sell into that thought process,  US politics, Baby boomers leaving workforce and needing more benefits, Baby Boomers moving from Stocks to Bonds,  etc.I agree things will get worse, but that means more investing opportunities. 

Talking to friends and reading local FB forums, there seems to be a severe housing shortage for rentals, prices seem much higher than in the past, and the market is very competitive.