A lot of those NIMBYs are the landlords, though, presumably because they like the high rents and the ever-increasing property values. The cost of ownership make

A lot of those NIMBYs are the landlords, though, presumably because they like the high rents and the ever-increasing property values. The cost of ownership makes those high rents incredibly inefficient and the returns on "investment" questionable, in my opinion, but there you have it. The rent I charge on my (nice, two-story, good neighborhood) property that is not located in the Bay Area is about 1% of the price I bought it at. In the part of the bay area I live, rents are about 0.3%-0.4% of the typical sale price for homes that are much smaller than my rental. I could buy 6 of my rental properties for the cost of one such home, have similar net appreciation in real estate value and be earning more rent.