Stuff people own (and implications for housing)

Many are used to owning more 'stuff' than our parents and being in bigger homes. Plus there was an expectation that we'd be better off than they were at our age.

But is the tide going out? American wages have been stagnant for decades for all but the very top. Home ownership rates are falling. And we're paying access or time share rather than buying a physical product. Does owning less means going further and living more?

What implications does this have for housing?

Discussed here in this article on co-living spaces No, co-living spaces probably won't solve the world's housing crisis

 

There is now plenty of student accomodation in major Australian cities that adopts this model. I think I read in one article that some people choose to continue living in these spaces after studenthood.

 

Broadly I think this trend is going the opposite way. There seems to be a concerted effort by a lot of manufacturers to make things harder to repair (so less need to stockpile parts and tools) + goods are getting better and cheaper.

I'm pretty confident I have way less possessions than my folks. currently a 2 car household but could easily be a 1 car, I suspect in 10 years we will be a 0 car household and just use short term rentals or uber.

American wages may be stagnating, but in Australia we've never had more disposable income at any other point in history than we do now...

Home ownership rates are falling, but we're also living longer, population is growing etc thanks to immigration & I think there is also just way less stigma about being a renter these days.

 

This is correct.