4 ms·

(Side note, it seems weird that they are just now publishing this article when this was news 2 or 3 months ago?). That being said, I noticed this with the apar

(Side note, it seems weird that they are just now publishing this article when this was news 2 or 3 months ago?). That being said, I noticed this with the apartment I am renting now. I checked daily and noticed the price was changing on a daily basis, I highly doubt this was done by a human. I ended up emailing them saying something like, I noticed the price was going down could we rent it for a few hundred less than what it currently is (it was going down close to $100 a day or something like that) and they agreed. I assume at some point the price would start going up based on when they expect people to look. It is really weird to see prices fluctuate that much. I even start to wonder if they purposefully don't list available units to keep a perception of availability issues to encourage renting at higher price.

xnx 3y ago
Also news a year ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34926683 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34926683
- nerdjon 3y ago
  I thought it had been a while, only felt somewhat confident in saying 2 to 3 months ago. This article doesn't really add anything and its from a major site, so that makes this even more confusing. I mean, not that we should not talk about it and we should continue to shine al light on it. But, idk something about that feels weird.
WalterBright 3y ago
Prices of stocks vary moment by moment, too. It's what happens when there is a large number of buyers & sellers in a marketplace.
- nerdjon 3y ago
  Stocks makes sense with that being a core part of how that market is supposed to work in the first place. Rent prices changing daily really doesn't make a ton of sense, there isn't really a valid reason for it except for an algorithm trying to figure out how to make the most money. Under normal circumstances I would expect maybe a monthly adjustment, maybe weekly if it was for a single unit not for all units in a building. Something like, oh this unit isn't renting we need to get it filled so let's adjust the price. That wouldn't really be a daily thing normally.
  - WalterBright 3y ago
    Computer and AI algorithms are used to select the best prices for stocks, too. > Rent prices changing daily really doesn't make a ton of sense Sure it does, just as stock prices change by the millisecond. The economy is not remotely static. The only reason prices changed slowly before was the lack of information and an illiquid market. > That wouldn't really be a daily thing normally. Markets change moment by moment. Just like the price of an airplane seat on a particular flight.
- mitthrowaway2 3y ago
  Prices fluctuate more when there are fewer buyers and sellers. This reduces the chance that there is both a buyer and a seller who happen to agree on a transaction price that is near the previous transaction price. As the number of buyers and sellers decreases, transaction volume decreases and volatility increases as price discovery gets more difficult. When transaction volume decreases to zero, there is no price discovery at all and the market price becomes effectively undefined. This could indicate a coming price crash or spike.
  - WalterBright 3y ago
    If I sell you my used furniture, there is no discovery at all. We simply sit down and discuss price until we reach a price acceptable to both of us. It doesn't mean there's a coming crash or spike.
    - mitthrowaway2 3y ago
      The crash would be relative to the previous price that furniture transacted at.
      - WalterBright 3y ago
        If you bought antique furniture, the used price might go up.
        mitthrowaway2 3y ago
        Yes it might. That one item can swing the whole spectrum from "free on Craigslist" to "$14,950 OBO" depending on how motivated that one seller is, and how motivated that one buyer. One way or the other, its price will have little correlation with how much it previously transacted for. The buyer might even be a knowledgeable antique appraiser who picks it up for free and flips it for $15k the next day. Whereas when there are a whole community of sellers and many buyers for some item (say, a used video game console), the prices tend to change more smoothly and gradually, in smaller increments.
- greenie_beans 3y ago
  we are talking about housing, not a stock. two totally, extremely, incredibly different asset classes.
  - WalterBright 3y ago
    The only real difference is the housing market is far less liquid than stocks are. Check out REITs, Real Estate Investment Trusts. You can buy shares in REITs, and hence shares in real estate. People also borrow money on their homes in order to invest the money. When you buy shares, the shares represent something - a piece of Amazon, for example. They're a lot more alike than you suggest.
    - greenie_beans 3y ago
      i'll give you that: they are both "assets" that can be bought, sold, and leveraged against. but i can't live in a stock. i can't rent out a stock for somebody else to live in. i can't burn down a stock. i can't hide in a stock from the police. i can't find a dark place inside my stock to cry. i can't take a hot bath in a stock. i can't cook three meals a day in a stock. i can't sit at my desk all day and make a tech salary in a stock. i can't raise kids in a stock. i can't sleep in one. i can't start an ecommerce business in a stock. can't sell drugs in a stock. i can't walk inside a stock i can't fuck in one i can't even kill myself in a stock. i can't i can't i can't give this argument any energy.

xnx 3y ago

Also news a year ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34926683 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34926683

nerdjon 3y ago
I thought it had been a while, only felt somewhat confident in saying 2 to 3 months ago. This article doesn't really add anything and its from a major site, so that makes this even more confusing. I mean, not that we should not talk about it and we should continue to shine al light on it. But, idk something about that feels weird.

WalterBright 3y ago

Prices of stocks vary moment by moment, too. It's what happens when there is a large number of buyers & sellers in a marketplace.

nerdjon 3y ago
Stocks makes sense with that being a core part of how that market is supposed to work in the first place. Rent prices changing daily really doesn't make a ton of sense, there isn't really a valid reason for it except for an algorithm trying to figure out how to make the most money. Under normal circumstances I would expect maybe a monthly adjustment, maybe weekly if it was for a single unit not for all units in a building. Something like, oh this unit isn't renting we need to get it filled so let's adjust the price. That wouldn't really be a daily thing normally.
- WalterBright 3y ago
  Computer and AI algorithms are used to select the best prices for stocks, too. > Rent prices changing daily really doesn't make a ton of sense Sure it does, just as stock prices change by the millisecond. The economy is not remotely static. The only reason prices changed slowly before was the lack of information and an illiquid market. > That wouldn't really be a daily thing normally. Markets change moment by moment. Just like the price of an airplane seat on a particular flight.
mitthrowaway2 3y ago
Prices fluctuate more when there are fewer buyers and sellers. This reduces the chance that there is both a buyer and a seller who happen to agree on a transaction price that is near the previous transaction price. As the number of buyers and sellers decreases, transaction volume decreases and volatility increases as price discovery gets more difficult. When transaction volume decreases to zero, there is no price discovery at all and the market price becomes effectively undefined. This could indicate a coming price crash or spike.
- WalterBright 3y ago
  If I sell you my used furniture, there is no discovery at all. We simply sit down and discuss price until we reach a price acceptable to both of us. It doesn't mean there's a coming crash or spike.
  - mitthrowaway2 3y ago
    The crash would be relative to the previous price that furniture transacted at.
    - WalterBright 3y ago
      If you bought antique furniture, the used price might go up.
      - mitthrowaway2 3y ago
        Yes it might. That one item can swing the whole spectrum from "free on Craigslist" to "$14,950 OBO" depending on how motivated that one seller is, and how motivated that one buyer. One way or the other, its price will have little correlation with how much it previously transacted for. The buyer might even be a knowledgeable antique appraiser who picks it up for free and flips it for $15k the next day. Whereas when there are a whole community of sellers and many buyers for some item (say, a used video game console), the prices tend to change more smoothly and gradually, in smaller increments.
greenie_beans 3y ago
we are talking about housing, not a stock. two totally, extremely, incredibly different asset classes.
- WalterBright 3y ago
  The only real difference is the housing market is far less liquid than stocks are. Check out REITs, Real Estate Investment Trusts. You can buy shares in REITs, and hence shares in real estate. People also borrow money on their homes in order to invest the money. When you buy shares, the shares represent something - a piece of Amazon, for example. They're a lot more alike than you suggest.
  - greenie_beans 3y ago
    i'll give you that: they are both "assets" that can be bought, sold, and leveraged against. but i can't live in a stock. i can't rent out a stock for somebody else to live in. i can't burn down a stock. i can't hide in a stock from the police. i can't find a dark place inside my stock to cry. i can't take a hot bath in a stock. i can't cook three meals a day in a stock. i can't sit at my desk all day and make a tech salary in a stock. i can't raise kids in a stock. i can't sleep in one. i can't start an ecommerce business in a stock. can't sell drugs in a stock. i can't walk inside a stock i can't fuck in one i can't even kill myself in a stock. i can't i can't i can't give this argument any energy.