Oct 26, 2026 · 39 min
Homeowners Help Keep Housing Unaffordable
Why Housing Is So Expensive, and the Myth of Timing the Market
The episode connects housing scarcity to local political incentives, then examines the emotional and financial stakes of infertility treatment and surrogacy.
- 1Local homeowners can use permitting power to protect scarcity and preserve the value of existing homes.
- 2Policies that increase demand without expanding supply intensify housing costs and make timing the market a poor strategy.
- 3Infertility treatment and surrogacy impose intertwined emotional, financial, and practical burdens on people building families.
Don't miss
The episode’s sharpest turn comes when housing-market uncertainty gives way to a listener’s account of three years of infertility, failed IVF attempts, and the prospect of surrogacy.
The brief
Scott Galloway argues that housing affordability is primarily a supply problem: local homeowners have gained unusual influence over permitting while benefiting from scarcity.
The episode challenges the idea that buyers can simply time the market, especially when demand-boosting policies meet restrictions that prevent enough homes from being built.
The conversation then turns to a listener’s three-year infertility journey, including two unsuccessful IVF rounds and the financial and emotional strain of continuing treatment.
Surrogacy enters as a difficult practical and moral choice, showing how building a family can require navigating uncertainty, expense, and competing hopes.
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