Housing Crisis Everywhere

By my estimation every developed Western nation is currently going through a housing crisis. Many individuals cannot afford to buy their shelter outright and are forced to rent. This is happening at the same time that villages are dying in Europe due to population collapse. I find this situation baffling and frustrating, and I have catalogued some thoughts on it below:

Over-financialisation

Many people (and hedge-funds) consider property to be a speculative investment, rather than a human need. We do not accept this with other needs. If someone were to buy up all the food and water and sell them back to people at a higher rate they would be publically shamed or worse. We instinctively respond negatively to scalpers. For good reason. In terms of social harmony, it is much better to live in a neighbourhood where everyone owns their home than a neighbourhood with 25% landlords and 75% perpetual renters. I am not an absolutist here; I don't see an issue with someone buying a house to turn into a bed-and-breakfast.

Indeed, since housing is treated as an investment, policies are enacted to protect and enhance the perceived value of this investment. New housing is disincentivized to protect the nest egg of current home-owners (which is perfectly rational from their perspective, if they discount the human cost). This behaviour is comparable to destroying card factories to enhance the value of the second-hand market.

PS: this is probably downstream of the fact that fiat money is disconnected from gold or has any anchor in reality, and so people treat housing as one of their only assets resistent to inflation.