You could have stopped at #1: Land Use.

It’s much more complex and a multi-cause issue than just “land use” though. There’s more than enough land within UGBs to build housing on. Market prices, building permits, building costs, speculation investment, family trusts, foreign interests ownership whereas land must be owned in order to allow foreign businesses and residency, US banking industry, competing policy issues all play a cause.

I won’t disagree with you. It’s flawed model. but so is CA style sprawl or cities / regions such as LA / Southern CA that don’t have a UGB.

I don't know why it matters, living in a liberal utopia comes with a price. Just ask all those Californian's that fled that liberal utopia and came to the one known as Oregon.

And to make matters worse is the fact that the rest of the nation is very aware that California is a lost cause on so many issues (crime, affordability) and Oregon is the new promised land !

How long have you lived in Oregon, bro?
chuckle

My whole life except for my 21 years in the military. And I am 65 years young.

I, also, but I was born in Portland in 1950 and have never lived anywhere but in Oregon. So, you lived here 44 years. That's only 2/3 of your life.

You ought to get out more and experience the world. Portland used to have its charms, before it was defiled by looney leftist ideology. But the world is filled with beauty and more rational governments. 99% of the planet just does not put up with bums in tents. They know it leads to a non stop downward spiral.

Assumes facts not in evidence. Just because I reside in Oregon does not mean that I have never visited any other place.

He's right. Reviewing your past comments you lack knowledge gained through experience. Get out of the Portland scum bubble.

Haha
I've lived at least half my life in other parts of the state, mostly rural areas. Where you do reside, troll?

I've lived in all 4 CONUS time zones. Get out of the bubble you are in.

Very nice to meet you Gilbert, so you beat me ! Born in Medford and graduated in Hillsboro. We are very blessed to live here.

Noone cares man.

Troll says whut.

Heh
I laugh at guys who whine about how "...it used to be."

Dementia will cause that.... LOL

Haha
I laugh at guys who whine about "...how it s'posed to be."

Had can a filthy and dangerous (AS MANY MURDERS NOW AS OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA) vagrant filled dumpster fire be considered a "utopia"? I think you mean dystopia.

It’s important to note and the article does not do that. that compared to the rest of the US, Oregon wasn’t hit much at all by the 2007 mortgage crises. We remained stable and even continued to rise in some areas. My house did quite well in the rise in value during 2007-2012 “mortgage crises”.

Oregon is a desirable place to live, enough so that people keep moving here and investing in real estate.

It’s really no shock that zoom towns are also unaffordable given they haven’t invested in growth planning or housing planning either but continue to grow.

But then again county, city and town governments love booming real estate prices because it adds greatly to their property tax revenue. Just look at the surplus money cities like Hood River, Portland etc have had the past few years.

Not rocket science. It's been a sellers' market, then the pandemic opened up the 'Zoom Towns' for remote work. At superlow interest rates. Now the Fed has (finally) begun taking away the punch bowl. This the normal process for price stabilization.

But the Fed won't change (a) the cap gains exemption for two-year flippers & (b) the decades-long cash-buyer market of Californians.

Note this is not a Oregon-only phenomenon. Look across the country & you will see the same thing everywhere, including the overlooked & underpriced midwest.

Also, while the economies are less robust and wages are lower in zoom towns, influx of higher paid remote workers has added to the imbalance and the lack of affordability index.

We need to vote out all the Republicans that lead this state and elect some progressives for a change. Those progressives will fix this right quick like.

Progressives are good for property appreciation, lesson learned?

No the Tech Bros are good for property appreciation! "Progressives" ruin cities. Detroit is a good example of a city with lots of "progressives", but no Tech Bros.

Huh, it had nothing to do with an upheaval in one of the most important industries in Michigan, would it? Similar to other rust belt cities dependent on domestic manufacturing?

Unions killed that golden goose. All the auto manufacturing went to right to work states.... more or less like the ILWU killed the Port of Portland with their insane and illegal demands.

Ah, the Union-did-it chestnut. The union also made them manufacture in Mexico and China too, yeah? Perfect scapegoat

The same Republicans who are doing somersaults to avoid accountability after the death of 19 more schoolchilden?

The same Democrats who are doing somersaults to avoid dealing with mental illness? Think mentally ill and being violent is far more pertinent issue - Walk thru downtown Portland.

Remember the racist in Waukesha only needed a car to kill with.

BTW - What happened? I thought you didn't need these blogs? I missed your comments no matter how off-topic.

No. That happened in another state. How do you not know something as simple as that?

What Republicans have any power in Portland or the state? HA!!!

I dunno, anecdotally, the interest rates have cooled things off a bit, houses are sitting much longer and bidding wars are less frequent

Also a crappy bungalow is now 700K. I bought a beautiful 3,300 sq. ft. highly upgraded home in San Diego, in 2009 for 570K. Now it's worth 1.6 million and I rent it.

Being an old guy, I do wonder who'll be able to afford my house at today's prices also. Bigger issue is price/income. Incomes are not going up fast enough and we can't attract well-paying employers here.

Wait, I know, a couple of more new taxes/bonds and bumps in SDCs will help fund a NEW affordability program.

Lets make the rich pay for needed homes. Say, anyone making more than $150,000 per year...you know, rich.

What in terms of details, does that mean? I am curious since I do think about ways to fix stuff.

We've already got a couple of "rich" people taxes already for affordabillty and homelessness.

Not serious. Trying to make a point about what some mean when they say rich. Like the rich not paying their fair share of taxes is causing inflation. Was President Joe serious?

Joe just sounds like the old guy telling kids to get off his lawn - He's clueless beyond the teleprompter.

If you say something about it the rich will NEVER pay their fair share - Whatever that is.

Just like we'll NEVER have enough affordable housing. Go ask 95% of tenants if they can "afford" their rents.

The rent is cheap in Detroit. You can buy a house for $500 even.

Like the vagrant hordes pay their fair share.......

Sure comrade, Oh wait, it's sarcasm....

One reason for housing inflation is the Tech Industry. Watch any city that invites Tech into their neighborhoods and you will find an immediate housing increase. Think Boise today and Seattle 5 years ago.
Another is retirement of those with means. Think Bend.

"Means"... you mean the financially savvy.

Leave it to pro-growth corporatist whores ECONorhwest to proclaim we have a massive housing shortage and for WW to supplicate at its feet, drooling.

The problem isn’t not enough housing but too many people, way more than the Earth, which feeds and sustains us, can afford.

The Earth and its resources upon which we depend to stay alive, don’t magically and forever expand to meet our rapacious wants.

We’ll continue lessening our chances for something more than a dark future, no fun left in nature, and then all human support systems gone, unless we get our brains, consciousness, numbers, and how much we gobble up in check with the Earth.

But humans are too short-sighted and tunnel visioned to try and understand or care how to do that.

and let me guess you were all for stimulus too?

.,