The price-fixing cartels refers to rent specifically, rather than sales. And yes, there is a shortage of units for sale, and that is due largely to market forces. For instance, if I have a house right now that I still have 25 years of mortgage on, my mortgage is probably at a very low rate. Selling that home and buying a new one would mean a new mortgage, at a higher rate, which means bigger monthly payments. This is a problem that older people are running into right now; their homes are too big now that their kids are gone, but they can’t afford the new mortgage rates.
Even without rental software suggesting market values for landlords, it’s very easy to look at comparables in your general area to set your own rates close to what other people have their at. Similarly, if you list a property at $X, and get 200 queries in a single day, you are likely to set your prices higher because you know that you’re listing lower than average. (I sold a car like that; I got 50+ inquiries in just a few hours, because I’d set the price lower than market rate.)
And in places there’s actually a shortage
…Which actually is most places.
IIRC, the gov’t is restricted right now, and can’t build more without a change in the law. And sure, let’s change that. But you’re also going to need to change local zoning restrictions that prevent high density housing from going into certain residential areas.
OP very clearly referenced landlords. And no, this is not just checking competitor prices. It’s literally an app landlords can collude on. They all give their pricing and vacancy data and the app tells each one how many units to keep vacant to make the market price go up. It’s literally a pricing cartel and literally illegal.
The price-fixing cartels refers to rent specifically, rather than sales. And yes, there is a shortage of units for sale, and that is due largely to market forces. For instance, if I have a house right now that I still have 25 years of mortgage on, my mortgage is probably at a very low rate. Selling that home and buying a new one would mean a new mortgage, at a higher rate, which means bigger monthly payments. This is a problem that older people are running into right now; their homes are too big now that their kids are gone, but they can’t afford the new mortgage rates.
Even without rental software suggesting market values for landlords, it’s very easy to look at comparables in your general area to set your own rates close to what other people have their at. Similarly, if you list a property at $X, and get 200 queries in a single day, you are likely to set your prices higher because you know that you’re listing lower than average. (I sold a car like that; I got 50+ inquiries in just a few hours, because I’d set the price lower than market rate.)
…Which actually is most places.
IIRC, the gov’t is restricted right now, and can’t build more without a change in the law. And sure, let’s change that. But you’re also going to need to change local zoning restrictions that prevent high density housing from going into certain residential areas.
OP very clearly referenced landlords. And no, this is not just checking competitor prices. It’s literally an app landlords can collude on. They all give their pricing and vacancy data and the app tells each one how many units to keep vacant to make the market price go up. It’s literally a pricing cartel and literally illegal.
The answer was always greed.