If I own a house or an apartment complex, my costs are relatively fixed -- that is, after all, the primary argument for owning rather than renting -- which mean

If I own a house or an apartment complex, my costs are relatively fixed -- that is, after all, the primary argument for owning rather than renting -- which means that if I am leasing that house or units in that complex to someone else, there is nothing requiring me to raise rents to keep up with "the market" rather than merely keeping up with my own actual costs. I can choose to make the same absolute amount of net income year after year. If "the market" is increasing faster than inflation and property tax, I can choose to take advantage of that. "The market" is not an entity with its own volition, and speaking of it as if it were obscures the reality that it's comprised of individuals and collectives making individual or collective choices about what to charge and what to pay.