In this video, Jason Hartman discusses a recent article forecasting that many U.S. cities will become unaffordable within the next five years. He highlights that many of these cities—major Texas metros like Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, and Charlotte, NC—are already portfolios of his long‑time investors. Hartman explains his three‑type market framework (linear, cyclical, hybrid) and argues that as money flows from expensive cyclical markets into more affordable linear markets, those linear markets become hybrid, eventually pushing price pressure further up the ladder. He introduces his "water theory of money," likening capital to water that seeks the lowest level, illustrating how capital migrates toward cheaper markets, driving up prices there. He provides concrete price examples, showing single‑family homes that once sold for $40‑$80k now command $170‑$240k. Concluding, Hartman urges listeners not to delay buying real estate, emphasizing that the current wave of affordability loss creates opportunities for new investors.
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Okay. The other article is entitled Housing in these Cities May become unaffordable by 2028. And it even profiles some cities where housing will be considered unaffordable, quote, unquote. And there are several metrics for that. Within just two years. Or within just three or four years, or five years. And we'll post a link to this article in the show notes@jason hartman.com as well. Why is this one particularly interesting to me and to you? Well, because many of you that have been investing with me for years, if you started investing with me eight years ago, 10 years ago, even four years ago, you know, maybe you started investing with me 15 years ago. Well, you got some incredible deals on your properties, okay? And you look at these same cities that are now going to be considered, quote, unaffordable in the near future. They are places that we have hundreds of clients who have purchased properties. They're the major Texas cities. Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, they're Charlotte, North Carolina, many of these cities. I mean, you guys have been investing in these cities for years with us. Okay? And congratulations, you are now in markets that arguably could be considered hybrid markets. Remember, three types of markets, linear, cyclical, and hybrid. And these have always been these linear, boring markets. And guess what happens? This starts to trickle. It starts to get more and more intense, and it even puts pressure on even more linear markets. So, I don't know, will we look for Memphis to be one of these cities after this round becomes unaffordable? Very, very possible and very, very likely. Because before we saw this trend, everybody thought, well, places like, you know, Los Angeles are unaffordable. San Francisco, obviously unaffordable. The expensive northeastern markets, south Florida, definitely unaffordable markets. Right? But that keeps moving out. It keeps expanding that definition. Because money, remember my water theory of money, And I haven't talked about this one for many, many years, but the water theory of money is this. You've all heard the old saying, water seeks its own level, right? Water seeks its own level. And what does that mean? Well, if you spill a glass of water on the ground, where will that water go? That water will always flow to the lowest point. It will always flow to the lowest point. And as it flows to the lowest point, it's just like money. Money does the same thing. I mean, maybe you could combine this with the. The statement I made yesterday and I've made before. Money always goes where it's treated best. The market is pretty efficient because it's a bunch of individual players who are always seeking the best deal. And they're always seeking the place where their money is treated best. So they're seeking the more affordable markets. And the money pushes out of those expensive cyclical markets. And then it goes to the linear markets. The linear markets become hybrid markets. And then it goes to the next tier of linear markets that was really, really linear, even more than the ones I've just mentioned. And those start becoming hybrid markets, right? And then you sort of look back at everything and you say, okay, well these markets had a little cyclical bout or maybe, you know, and you'd call them hybrid, but maybe they'll be linear for many years after that because they reach sort of this point of homeostasis, right? The leveling where water seeks its own level. But this always happens, right? It always pushes out. That's the nature of real estate. You could even compare it to the concept of the path of progress in real estate development, right? So all these things are in play. And the markets that we sold, cheap little 40 and 50 and 60 and 70 and $80,000 single family homes, even 110, 120, $150,000 single homes. We sold properties like that in these markets. Now the prices, you know, they're 170, 180, 220,000, $240,000. It's amazing. Look, don't wait to buy real estate. Buy real estate and then wa.
