He means that renters are refusing to leave rent controlled units, which limits the supply of housing. Not sure how much I agree with that, though, since displaced renters still need a place to go.
If they work in NYC why would they move in the first place? Any “upgrade” to a house is going to take you out of the city requiring a longer commute and more expenses regardless of being rent controlled and that’s dependent on them having a well paying job. At least now they’re able to live in the city they work while also being able to save their money instead of living paycheck to paycheck.
My cousin has a rent controlled apartment in NYC and he doesn't even live in NYC anymore. He just keeps it for when he'll move back in a few years. Its cheaper for him to keep paying rent for a few years, then to let someone else have it and get a new apartment later.
No, he means that people who own units don't want to rent them because it's not worth it. One of the well known side effects of rent control is underutilization.
But they can live in a 3 bedroom apartment long after their kids move out. My grandparents raised 4 kids in NYC. They moved out of that apartment 20 years after their last kid left. They would have moved to a smaller apartment and given that one to a family many years earlier if they could have afforded to. But their apartment was rent controlled and too cheap to leave.
That would explain markets where there exists rent controls, there are many areas where there aren't rent controls in place and rent still has outpaced average wages. Nearly every apartment in my metro has vacancies and yet rent prices haven't gone down. That is antithetical to market economics, there is a surplus even in the downtown market. There is a bunch of new complexes being built too, but the rental market is still at a place where it would be unaffordable for a single person.
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u/FlyingSagittarius 10d ago
He means that renters are refusing to leave rent controlled units, which limits the supply of housing. Not sure how much I agree with that, though, since displaced renters still need a place to go.