The NYT reports that fewer elderly people are moving into assisted living facilities even when their health would make it desirable, because they are having trouble selling their homes. Add this one to the "who could have known?" list.
This is yet one more entirely predictable consequence of Alan Greenspan's "bubbles are cute" policy. Of course some hard questions should be asked of the experts cited in this article, like "how could you not have seen this coming?"
In fact, even if the housing market were not in a bubble it would be desirable to promote more rental options for seniors for precisely this reason. Housing is always an illiquid asset and for most people it is their major source of wealth. If a person's health were to suddenly deteriorate and require them to move into an assisted living facility, they could be forced to sell their home at a large loss.
Sound government policy would promote rental options so that seniors would not feel the need to buy or stay in the homes they already own in order to have good secure housing. It would be helpful if the media could find housing "experts" who understood such basic points.
There's too much at stake this November for us to quit. As we navigate another presidential election year, thoughtful independent journalism is more important than ever. We're committed to bringing you the latest news on what's really happening across the country this election season, shining a light on the stories corporate media overlooks and keeping the public informed about how power really works in America.
Quality reporting doesn't come for free, and we don't have corporate backers to rely on to fund our work. Everything we do is thanks to our incredible community of readers, who chip in a few dollars at a time to make what we do possible. This month, we're trying to raise $50,000 to help fuel our election coverage, and we've fallen behind on reaching our goal. Any amount you give today will bring us closer to making our reporting possible—and a generous donor has agreed to match all online donations, so your impact will be doubled.
