Housing Improving? Really?

The Buffalo news media is making a big deal about the housing market as of late. Their big deal? That the market is “improving.”

Let's put this into everyday English instead of business speak.

“Improving” means that the price of a house (and apartment) in Buffalo and the surrounding areas is going up. The prices are rising.

This is good for the landlords, banks, realtors – people that will make money off of the rising prices.

For the middle class and below – this blows. It means that they will be paying more for the same old thing. Rent for apartments will go up, squeezing more money out of the pockets of people that can barely afford to live in them. For those looking to buy, the x bedroom, y bath house will see an increase in price.

Key point: Nothing has changed except the price. It's the same old chunk of whatever.

How is this good for those in need?

And the Buffalo News is always blowing sunshine about newly proposed renovations of old factories and stores into apartments. These, of course, will be high priced as well.

The real crappy part of the renovated factories and stores? They were empty until the taxpayers coughed up money for the developer to do work on the property. Basically the developers were bribed to renovate the properties into something.

Of course the media won't tell it this way. They will report it as a “tax break.”

And what do we the tax payers receive from having all those properties off the tax rolls for a certain number of years?

The school budget is determined by property tax. And these properties are exempted from school tax or it is put on our backs and taken out of our wallets.

Cities and counties are denied property tax on those properties – and those will come out of our pockets as well.

The state will also be denied income from these properties. Guess where that money comes from?

Got a good chiropractor? All those taxes on your back have to be killing you.

The more I shell out in taxes that are used to bribe capitalists to do what they say they can do best is killing my ability to support the local economy. I imagine it is getting difficult for others as well as we all pay for this corporate welfare and welfare for the 1%.

So the housing market is “improving.” For whom and in what way? 

Not me.