Daniel Pennell: Thoughts on American Homeownership

Yves Smith refers to Daniel Pennell: Thoughts on American Homeownership.

This downturn is leading to more fundamental rethinking of what used to be a mainstay of personal security but increasingly became a consumption item, namely, owning a home. The percentage of Americans who think of homeownership as a good investment has fallen by about 20 points in the last three years, from four fifths to three fifths.

Emphasis Mine

It it interesting to note that people are beginning to realise that home ownership is now a burden to the working class because it impacts job mobility.

I have noted the change of housing from sustenance to consumption elsewhere. But it is nice to see this shift noted by Yves Smith as well.

And it is this shift from sustenance to commodity that powered the latest boom and bust cycle in housing. Too many people had become dependent on the commodity production of housing. And this is causing the distress now.

Daniel Pennell not only puts himself in the camp of housing skeptics, but also highlights the link between the scale of homes and obligatory consumption levels. And I’ve certainly observed the converse. One of the reasons for Japan’s high savings rate is, no joke, their teeny homes.

Daniel Pennell gives the primary reason for home ownership as:

Increasingly I find that a house is a place for your stuff. Not that I am against “Stuff”…capitalism would collapse if people did not buy wasteful stuff.

I think that Smith and Pennell miss the underlying ideological basis for pushing home ownership: it puts more people into the conservative camp through propert ownership. Your ideological outlook is shaped by your material possessions. Those who have want to keep, while those who haven't want to get.