2021-11-16: Economics Question rak ================================================================ Today in the Wall Street Journal [0], it was reported that the U.S. federal government will back home mortgages of nearly $1 million dollars for the first time. I understand the intended objective: the price of homes has skyrocketed to astronomical levels (especially here in Canada), putting the price of home ownership out of reach to most families. By providing families with access to larger loans, the government is trying to make home ownership accessible to those who might not otherwise be able to. My question is: how will this not compound the issue and drive prices up even further? My (uneducated and uninformed) common sense economic reasoning suggests that if prices get too high, then demand will drop (because nobody is willing to spend $1 million on a bungalow in rural America), and prices will eventually have to come back down to levels bearable by the market. But if you make money more easily available, people will be able to buy homes at prices they would not otherwise have been able to, thereby sustaining the high prices. I am not an economist, and my reasoning is obviously pretty simplistic. What factors are at play that make my analysis incorrect? How is this situation different from the housing bubble of 2008, in which Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac allegedly played a role? [0] Andrew Ackerman. "Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac to Back Home Loans of Nearly $1 Million as Prices Soar", Wall Street Journal, 2021-11-16