From the “Mansion Shortage” in AI-bubble-epicenter San Francisco infecting mid-tier home prices, to Austin and Oakland where prices plunged over 25% since 2022.
In 27 of the 33 big and expensive cities we track here, mid-tier home prices in March were down from their respective peaks in prior years, led by Austin (-26%), Oakland (-25%), and New Orleans (-19%).
Now also filtering into these mid-tie...
The housing market narrative presents a tension between short-term volatility and long-term structural shifts. The strongest version of this story highlights legitimate concerns: the Fed’s past monetary policies distorted prices, AI-driven employment changes could reshape demand, and the rent-vs-buy calculus remains skewed by high costs. However, the framing risks oversimplifying complex dynamics. For instance, the "mansion shortage" in San Francisco is presented as a localized AI bubble effect,...