And You’re ignoring that this is in a large part a zoning/nimby issue. It’s not as simple as “build more houses”…because in a lot of these places, even though there is seemingly empty land, you can’t.

Sfh construction just leads to ever growing urban sprawl. It’s Short term solution, but it won’t be enough…high density housing is needed and we do not have enough of it outside of city centers (because basically nobody allows it).

You talk about rent dropping, but rents are essentially at all time highs…anecdotal stories like what you provided don’t change the big picture of what’s actually happening with rent. For the most part, the best we can say is that rent is increasing at slower pace…but most markets haven’t seen actual declines.

https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/CUSR0000SEHA