Rather than wax on about Donald Trump and Joe Manchin, Boston Public Radio finally discussed an issue that matters to people: the cost of buying a house.
But instead of discussing the issue seriously, guest host Andrea Cabral argued that young people would rather rent than own because their “sense of permanence” has changed. She opined (listen to the clip here):
I think subsequent generations, their sense of permanence and what conveys permanence is very different from ours, especially this most recent generation.
It is especially so on the heels of a pandemic. So with COVID people are working from home. It's not like you have to have a fixed place to live. And you're going to commute from that fixed place to live to your job. And you're going to come home at the end of the day and your church is going to be down the street and your people are much more transient now than than have ever been in the past.
But even before this, even before the pandemic, the sense from younger generations was an apartment is fine. I don't need to own a home. I don't need to pay for the home and then pay basically you know, you know, well over a third of that to the bank and interest. There was a mindset change around how you paid for the home as well as the the importance of owning home.
I guess there have been no open houses in Mrs. Cabral’s neighborhood. Because the ones I went to had lines as long as Space Mountain and news crews interviewing hopeful buyers viewing 900 square-foot condos priced at $600k.
Young people desperately want to own a home. We do not want to be throwing a chunk of cash away to a landlord every single month. We want equity and to build wealth just like our parents did and Cabral did.
But most can’t.
And that’s because the median price of a single-family home in Massachusetts in April 2022 was $560,000 (as cited by Eagan).
The callers certainly disagreed with Cabral:
John — daughter offered $90k over asking and waived inspection and still didn’t get the home. Cabral’s response was to say that offering $90-150k over asking is “not at all unusual at all.”
John — moved to Cincinnati, which Eagan went on to ridicule by asking “What do you do in Cincinnati?” And she wonders how Ohio could have voted for Trump.
Paul — shared that his house has increased in price 50% in six years. Cabral responded, “not particularly unusual.”
Beth — criticizes Cabral for declaring younger people don’t want to own. Eagan responded by laughing and Cabral responds by doubling down on her argument while saying Beth didn’t understand her point.
Anonymous — says only those with generational wealth who can get help from their parents can buy a home. Eagan jokes her kids won’t benefit because she has nothing to give them. Eagan lives in Brookline where the median home price is $1.6 million and later jokingly calls herself “nakedly greedy” concerning renting out properties, suggesting she may have multiple units or homes. That said, I am not sure if Eagan rents or owns and if she’s in a condo or house.
Kate — criticizes Baby Boomers for hanging onto homes for too long and not charging cheaper rent on paid off homes. Cabral counters suggesting the Baby Boomers may be trying to make up for wealth lost in the Great Recession. Considering the decade between the Great Recession and the present was the longest bull run in history, Cabral’s argument hardly holds water. Eagan explains she’s just nakedly greedy — refreshingly honest.
As a millennial who has been trying to buy a home since December 2020, I was fuming listening to this segment. My wife and I desperately want to own a home. But the combination of home prices and other expenses makes it available only to the wealthy.
Consider childcare, which costs $21,000 per year or $1,750 per month on average in Massachusetts. A friend and her husband pay $4,000 per month for two kids. Another was was quoted $3,000 per month by Bright Horizons.
Childcare is a second mortgage.
Home ownership in Greater Boston is for the wealthy. And the bluest, most progressive state in the country is cementing its position as a bastion for wealthy elites.
Does the irony every occur to people like Andrea Cabral and Margery Eagan?
I doubt it.