> Massive corporate landlords aren't providing a service to meet a demand. They're actively creating demand by driving up the cost of home ownership This accus

> Massive corporate landlords aren't providing a service to meet a demand. They're actively creating demand by driving up the cost of home ownership This accusation would make a lot of sense if the corporations in question are either (a) a monopoly or (b) an illegal trust, colluding with each other, and through (a) or (b) the corporations enjoyed sufficient concentration of the housing sector that they had pricing power — the ability to restrict the supply and raise prices to make money. This is not the case. The housing market is fairly competitive, and many different buyers, sellers, homeowners, and home-builders participate and compete with each other. Prices are rising for other reasons: a reduced number of homebuilders, in the aftermath of the 2008 crash; various political land-use, zoning, environmental, and similar homebuilding restrictions; a reduction in the overall labor pool, which impacts the labor in new home construction; labor and other supply chain impacts on the availability of components that are used in new home construction; and a significant pandemic-induced shift in real estate usage patterns (almost everyone wants more space now).