[deleted] t1_j4mwxbv wrote
Reply to comment by noldshit in New apartment buildings in low-income areas lead to lower rents in nearby housing units. This runs contrary to popular claims that new market-rate housing causes an uptick in rents and leads to the displacement of low-income people. by smurfyjenkins
is it really about the supply?
if they're building in low-income areas then they know they can only charge low rent. this creates affordable supply.
if they built those apartments & charged higher rent then I dont think you would see rent drop & would probably see it go up
for example, they built a large apartment complex by me but they are more expensive than my house. let's say I'm charging $1.6k for my house but those apartments are $2k. why wouldn't I raise my prices to $1.9k knowing im cheaper & bigger than an apartment & there's no other options?
vermillionmango t1_j4n0xbs wrote
Because there are only so many people who will pay a particular price point.
They will build in low income areas and charge high rents if people will pay it. It happens in most cities, and it's what 90% of anti gentrification stuff is about.
Why would you wait to charge 1.9? Why not charge that before the apartments go up? In fact why not charge 2.5 or 3? Who is your competition? The only reason you would keep your price at 1.9 is because people can choose your drafty victorian or a new apartment.
Now what if another couple apartment buildings went up and to entice renters the first building lowered their rent to 1.7? Would you drop to 1.6?
The only difference between affordable and luxury housing is supply. Should the rise in egg prices mean we stop breeding egg laying hens? Do we have a shortage of eggs or are eggs now luxury eggs?
[deleted] t1_j4n2kba wrote
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SerialStateLineXer t1_j4ohx65 wrote
>if they built those apartments & charged higher rent then I dont think you would see rent drop & would probably see it go up
If they could charge higher rent and still get tenants, they would. They're charging as much as the market will bear, and it still lowers prices on surrounding housing.
If they charged rent so high that nobody was willing to rent the apartments, then it would have no real effect on the price of surrounding housing, but doing that would be a tremendous waste of money.
[deleted] t1_j4piylk wrote
so how does the more expensive apartment building by me lower housing prices? it's more expensive than houses, what is the incentive for housing prices to drop? why would someone choose a tiny expensive apartment over a large less expensive house? wouldn't it create demand for people who want houses & therefore increase house prices?
cantdressherself t1_j50xbv4 wrote
Apartments are substitute goods to houses. Raising rents due to new building can happen but only in specific areas.
Building luxury apartments next to affordable houses has no affect on the demand for affordable houses, unless it pulls a few tenants that really wanted luxury in that location but couldn't get it before.
It can raise property valuations and drive up taxes and attract higher paying renters, (gentrification) but that assumes the supply of renters is endless, which is not the case in most areas.
[deleted] t1_j50xnak wrote
yes so simply saying "more housing = lower rent" is obviously not the entire equation
cantdressherself t1_j61sjwn wrote
I mean, it will lower the rents somewhere. Maybe not right next door, but someone somewhere lost a buyer or a renter.
Hour-Watch8988 t1_j4ofnh9 wrote
You’re completely ignoring the supply effect in your neighborhood. Apartments don’t just set prices; they take prices based on the demand dynamics and the other options available to renters and homebuyers in the area. More options for renters and homebuyers means landlords and home sellers need to accept lower prices to compete.
I think you’re getting confused by the fact that new apartments are new and people are generally willing to pay a substantial premium for that.
[deleted] t1_j4p3gvw wrote
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[deleted] t1_j4pjio6 wrote
im not getting confused im just trying to lead the conversation. lead to the conclusion that there are other factors and its not purely "supply/demand", nothing is that simple. such as the fact that many people choose to pay a premium.
someone could flood the market with a million apartments, if they own all the apartments they have no incentive to lower the prices. & thats a lot of the type of real estate we're seeing, one company buying everything up
the same way you can have a million gas stations but they're always basically the same cost because the supply only comes from like 3 different places
cantdressherself t1_j50xjvy wrote
I fantasize sometimes about becoming a billionaire and buying up apartments and setting the rent below market rate.
[deleted] t1_j50y9kz wrote
i have a similar dream haha. Id love to win the lottery and build beautiful walkable affordable mixed zone neighborhoods that promote small businesses
I honestly don't think itd be profitable but if I had the money I'd pay people to bring their business there. like butchers and bakeries and grocery and coffee shops. they probably can't survive on the business of 1 neighborhood but id just pay them to stay haha
Hour-Watch8988 t1_j4qo7xl wrote
We aren’t anywhere close to the point where individual owners have monopolistic power over housing supply. Even if an individual company flooded the market with a bunch of units, they’d still have to compete with existing stock.
I’m sorry but I have to ask: what’s your training in economics?
[deleted] t1_j4qt3cz wrote
The company Invitation Homes (owned by Blackstone) already owns 90% of the homes in some areas of Atlanta & a total of 12,555 homes in Atlanta in general. they have many other real estate purchases across the country as well
investors accounted for 24% of all homes purchased in 2021 as well
corporations & investment firms are buying up real estate & it won't be long until there are monopolies all over the country
jeffwulf t1_j4pd7mp wrote
It's really about the supply.
[deleted] t1_j4plxmb wrote
I think there are more variables than that. for example, i think it also matters who provides that supply. we're seeing a lot of corporate real estate movement. if 1 entity controls the supply, I dont see an incentive to lower prices.
jeffwulf t1_j4qrehf wrote
It only matters who provides the supply if it's all highly concentrated in a single provider.
[deleted] t1_j4qsu1p wrote
yes. and if you've been paying attention to the news corporations & investment firms have been buying up housing
24% of all houses sold last year were bought by investors
The company Invitation Homes (owned by Blackstone) owns nearly 13,000 homes in Atlanta alone and 90% of the homes in some specific areas
jeffwulf t1_j4qupjg wrote
Most investors are mom and pop landlords. Institutional investors own less than 1% of housing.
[deleted] t1_j4qvhh4 wrote
right now, sure, but it's increasing. & it also depends on the area. housing supply in California doesn't help anyone in Georgia & like i said, some areas of Atlanta are 90% owned by 1 institutional investor
"In the Atlanta metro area, 42.8% of for-sale homes went to institutional investors in the third quarter of 2021"
jeffwulf t1_j4r3lk9 wrote
They own about 300k houses country wide versus housing stock over 100 million. They don't meaningfully effect prices and have no meaningful market power. However, we do know from their shareholder reports that the reason they're investing in single family homes is because they think that local homeowners have successfully put in policies that prevent new housing from being built so their profits will be protected and the largest risk to their portfolio is new housing supply being built.
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Your article even says as much.
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After all, investors are driven to rental-family homes because of existing demand and limited supply, while housing cost burdens among low-income people have been rising for decades.
“Private equity firms and other institutional investors benefit from tight housing supply, but they did not create the problem. Local governments across the U.S. have adopted policies that make it difficult to build more homes where people want to live,” Schuetz said. “Zoning rules that limit the construction of small, moderately priced homes are politically popular with existing homeowners and local elected officials.”
[deleted] t1_j4r47o0 wrote
the idea of entire areas owned 90% by 1 company doesn't set off any alarms for you?
when highrise apartment buildings are built it's not like there's that many millionaires to choose from who could possibly afford to build & own it.
jeffwulf t1_j4r7jhh wrote
Depends on how big an entire area is. It would have to be pretty sizable before it's meaningful.
There's like 30,000,000 millionaires in the US alone.
[deleted] t1_j4r8xv3 wrote
psh regular retirees are millionaires, that means nothing. especially if you'd have to liquidate every investment & property to get that $1mil.
an average, basic 100 unit apartment building would cost $37+ million to build. so an individual building an apartment building would probably have $100+ million net worth. high end apartments could cost $100 million to build & require someone with $250million.
and then they need to charge like it cost $370 million or they'll never make their money back
but in reality, that's rare, a billion dollar corporation is going to be the one building these apartments. similarly, if youve ever seen a new neighborhood built, every house is built by 1 company. the difference is that the houses are sold to individuals, creating diverse suppliers. where the apartments/rentals continue to be owned by the rich & who then have the opportunity to control the market since not many people can afford to compete with billionaires
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