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raggedtoad t1_j6k4ani wrote

Everyone who understands the macroeconomics of real estate supply and demand agrees that nationally, the housing supply in the US has been lagging behind demand badly since the financial crisis in 2007-2009.

Building more units is the only solution. The market will self correct. If there is bureaucracy and zoning red tape preventing construction, then it will prolong the pain of high rents for everyone.

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WelcomeToTheBough t1_j6k68i6 wrote

LOL the market will self correct. The market tolerates people on the streets! Again your side makes up shit about NIMBY political power. Yes the industry wants to make as much money as it can. Your sides supports catering to tech workers and other well offs.

Whats next more BMWs made in 2023 to lower used car prices?

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raggedtoad t1_j6k7fib wrote

Literally yes. Taking your car example we have just gone through a supply/demand induced price crunch, and now that supply chains are getting back to normal, automakers are lowering prices, dealerships are offering incentives again, and used car prices are plummeting.

So... Nice point?

I think you're confusing basic supply and demand economics with Reagan-esque trickle down nonsense. They are not the same.

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WelcomeToTheBough t1_j6k7zx5 wrote

its rent seeking, you can sit on empty units or airbnb them to keep prices up (they do it, google it). They aren't widgets pig they are homes. You don't care if poor and broke Mainer's suffer.

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You are literally promoting trickle down housing and you cant cite it working in a popular market like California because it doesn't work if a bunch of well off people can move in!

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raggedtoad t1_j6k9i1q wrote

What the hell is "trickle down housing"? You're talking out of your ass.

If you allow developers to build nice, new townhouses in Westbrook for all the out-of-state tech bros to move into, it will free up apartments in all the older 4-6 unit buildings and the price pressure will be reduced. It's seriously the most basic supply and demand equation you could imagine.

The only issue is if developers are knocking down older housing stock to build new, but I'm not aware of that happening en masse.

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WelcomeToTheBough t1_j6ka7h1 wrote

no it doesn't! If you still have demand (which is only growing with people moving here) the rents stay up in the "older units". Your claiming prices trickle down! Again Cali rents aren't going down. Your premise that what will be built under new up zoning beats overall demand, show me that because its bs!

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YIMBYS want it both ways

Free market extremism (build whatever basically)

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and the magic claim it backfills demand, when the market doesn't mind people in the streets or at moms house! It cares about capturing max returns and renting to poor people doesn't pay for buildings!

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raggedtoad t1_j6kihlg wrote

So if we built 200,000 units of housing in Maine overnight, just for the sake of argument, your claim is that 200,000 people would appear out of nowhere and rents would continue to climb?

C'mon, man.

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[deleted] t1_j6kkyu7 wrote

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raggedtoad t1_j6ku00d wrote

It's a debate strategy. I'm picking an absurd extreme to make a point, which is that reality lies somewhere between my extreme and what the person I'm arguing with is saying.

We can't have a rational debate based solely on platitudes and ideologies. I am 100% sure that more housing fixes housing shortages.

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[deleted] t1_j6kvc38 wrote

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raggedtoad t1_j6kwmso wrote

If you even read my comment a few spots up this thread you'd already know my stance on that.

It doesn't matter if developers build higher end new stuff (which they largely will), because it still frees up older and less desirable supply which should be renting for a lot less than it is.

If you want the Old Port to look like it did in the 1970s, enact a bunch of restrictive rent control and lower income construction requirements and wait 20 years.

The Old Port is literally the charming hipster foodie destination it is because people with money want to live there...

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