Z+ (subscription-only content); Affordable housing: “The younger generations are paying for the Boomers' wealth growth”

When you hear someone say that home prices are too high, you usually think the solution is to bring them down. But Lars Doucet, an analyst and co-founder of the Center for Land Economics, says that's only half the story. The real divide is not between those who want expensive homes and those who want affordable homes, but between generations: today, young people are paying, through their work and their taxes, for the wealth accumulated by Boomers through rising real estate prices. And here comes the short circuit: even if prices were to fall, for many young people, it would still be a rigged game, because the structure of the real estate market does not work like that of any other asset. Doucet began his career designing video games, then created software to assess the value of land—and eventually turned his attention to a question that no one really wants to address: Why does housing, which should be a right, act like a lottery ticket only for those who already own it? The central idea of Georgism, which inspires Doucet, is simple and groundbreaking: land is not a normal asset, because no one produced it—it was already there. And those who own it enjoy a self-perpetuating advantage, while those who come later pay twice: once to live, and once to enrich those who bought it first. Take Doucet's story: Born into an immigrant family, his parents always lived in rented accommodation. When he, now an adult, wanted to buy a home, he realized that the task was nearly impossible without a stroke of luck. Every dollar he put aside seemed to vanish in the face of prices that were rising faster than his savings. Here’s a hard fact: In many Western countries, home prices have risen much faster than wages over the past two decades. But here comes the shocking detail: even if prices were to fall today, those who bought late would find themselves with a mortgage that exceeds the value of the home, while those who bought earlier would continue to benefit from the gains they made. Doucet puts it bluntly: “Younger generations are paying for the growth in Boomers' wealth.” His point is that the housing market is not a ladder that everyone can climb, but rather a door that closes behind those who have entered. And there is another trap: every time there is talk of lowering prices, homeowners see their financial security called into question. No one wants their main source of wealth to lose value—so the debate is always deadlocked. What if we tried to think of housing not as an investment object, but as a collective resource? Doucet argues that the real challenge is not to bring prices down, but to change the way we perceive the value of housing: from a private jackpot to a shared right. And here lies the game-changer: as long as land is treated like a standard asset, latecomers will always foot the bill for others' gains. Housing should not be a golden ticket for the few, but a starting point for everyone. If this idea has made you rethink your understanding of home and ownership, on Lara Notes you can press I'm In—it's your way of saying: This perspective now belongs to me. And if tomorrow this story becomes the topic of conversation at dinner or on a road trip, on Lara Notes you can mark that conversation with Shared Offline—because certain ideas only truly become yours when you share them with someone else. This Note is based on an interview with DIE ZEIT: In just a few minutes, you have saved time and discovered a new way of looking at the real estate market.