4 ms·

Supply, demand, and cartels like Realpage.

• eru 3y ago
  Cartel's can't just magically set prices. They can withhold supply, and that might have an effect on market prices.
  • deleted 3y ago
    [deleted]
  • astrange 3y ago
    You can't pay the mortgage on a place you're not renting out though, so they mostly can't withhold supply. It applies more to things like retired people living by themselves in a 3 bedroom house.
    • eru 3y ago
      OK. Though if they can't withhold supply, how are those cartels supposed to hold up prices, then?
      • astrange 3y ago
        They don't, it's not real. (Except that they can prevent construction of new units through zoning.)
  • tremon 3y ago
    Ehm, what? Of course cartels can magically set prices. That's what a cartel is for: to make collusion easier.
    • eru 3y ago
      Even OPEC can't magically set prices. Cartels make collusion easier, but you still have to do concrete steps to raise market prices. OPEC does that via production cuts. Or rather tries to do that.
• astrange 3y ago
  Real estate has very distributed ownership and none of them are motivated to form a cartel. The only way they can maintain one is through legal force. Zoning laws are almost entirely that force; they're a way to establish a cartel of homeowners.