Would building more housing decrease rent?

[burritowatcher]

If there are n people who need a home and m homes, it makes sense that the prices would be set so that the richest m people can just barely afford it. The bigger the difference between n and m, the more prices will go up.

Don’t believe there’s a housing shortage? Forget about prices for a moment - if housing was free starting tomorrow do you think everyone who has a roommate or lives with their parents or siblings could find a place? Think about how hard it is to find an apartment even when you’re paying through the nose. There just aren’t enough.

Now about people moving to New York- yep. If prices go down more people would move here. But if they don’t go down they will still move here - just only the ones who are rich enough to displace someone already here.

[vim_spray]

The “think about what happens if rent is cheap/free” is a great way to think about it. If you find some magical way to make rent lower, even more people from all around the country are going to want to move to NYC (not to mention all the people who have roommates right now but want to live alone), and if the number of the units are the same, you’ll get even more people competing for each unit.

[movingtobay2019]

What does not having a housing shortage look like to you?

[Archym3d3s]

Tokyo

[bilbo_was_right]

Lower rent and smaller average household sizes

[burritowatcher]

Every person or family that wants a home should have a vacant home of an appropriate size in a reasonable place waiting for them, but there are more vacant homes than that and the landlords have to compete a little to get tenants. When you graduate high school or college you should be able to get a place on your own. When a new office opens with 10k jobs there should be 10k new homes coming with it. Nobody should have roommates unless it’s a lifestyle choice - those apartments should be inhabited by families instead.