> That is in fact why prices are so relatively consistent- no sane tenant on the market is going to pick a more expensive apartment when the complex a couple b

> That is in fact why prices are so relatively consistent- no sane tenant on the market is going to pick a more expensive apartment when the complex a couple blocks away costs less, so they end up about the same. It's a reasonable assertion, but I'm a bit more cynical. I don't think prices are consistent due to competition based on price, I think it's consistent because they've all figured out what the maximum rent is the market will bear. Again, the important thing to remember is that people need housing. The sellers of housing are taking advantage of that and will charge the absolute highest price they can. There's no reason to compete on price when you're essentially guaranteed a customer. > If we finally see sufficient housing construction then you’ll see prices stabilize and possibly even come down, because those new units compete with the existing units. I've seen first-hand people arguing against construction of new housing. They try to frame it as worrying about traffic, but the quiet part is that they know the higher supply could cause their home value to level off. We need to stop looking at real estate as a form of investment. It creates extremely perverse incentives that result in housing scarcity for the lower classes.