I think zoning is the crux of it. NIMBYs distort the market through land use regulation, which leads to high demand / low supply, which leads to landlords that

I think zoning is the crux of it. NIMBYs distort the market through land use regulation, which leads to high demand / low supply, which leads to landlords that have no incentive to work with renters, ending up with renters fighting for rental regulations, which keeps homes off the market (as the land itself is profitable). Lower density zoning eventually ends up hurting mass transportation networks, incentivizing cars and leading to urban sprawl... which just spreads the problem over a wider area with more autonomous political representatives.