After a housing bubble bursts and the housing market is in a slump...it emerges first with a greater demand for rental units and then slowly shifts to an increased demand for single family housing.
It would be highly interested exactly what percentage of that +25% increase in 5+ housing units are because of Section 8?
My thinking is single unit owners are way too wise now about the destruction their government leeches cause and aren’t willing to continue with ‘easy government money’ anymore whereas rats like living together and the economies of scale in neglected repairs, aesthetics, etc. are more easily hidden in an apartment complex.
I see it more as the free money spigot is getting turned off, and people who can't get money are now renting.
I know that the difference between getting a mortgage now, from 10-12 years ago, is like the difference between shooting a bullet and throwing it.
10-12 years ago, I was pre-approved for a loan that would have given me payments higher (substantially higher) than what I was making per month at the time.
More recently, I still got a mortgage, but only was pre-approved for what I needed and not a penny more. Lots more hoops to jump through as well.
It's a major PITA for low risks (like myself), but overall, I think it's likely a good thing.
Once everyone is renting it becomes easy to build a Socialist movement around “the RENT is TOO DAMNED HIGH!”