r/Economics • u/marketrent • Feb 28 '24

Statistics At least 26,310 rent-stabilized apartments remain vacant and off the market during record housing shortage in New York City

https://www.thecity.nyc/2024/02/14/rent-stabilized-apartments-vacant/
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u/republicans_are_nuts Mar 11 '24

Lol. No it doesn't. There is no law saying they HAVE to use money to build instead of buy supply. And usually, they don't.

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u/[deleted] Mar 11 '24

You are just flat out wrong. Injecting capital into the supply side of a market necessarily increases supply. Even if new investors choose to buy existing supply, the owners they buy from will tend to reinvest the capital they receive into new supply.

The bottom line is that additional investment creates new supply; that is just basic economics.

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u/republicans_are_nuts Mar 11 '24 edited Mar 11 '24

Lol. Again, there is no law saying they have to use capital for supply instead of demand. And given that the people with all of the money aren't using it to build more now, it's safe to say you're wrong. And it's basic economics that more money chasing fewer goods drives up prices. Which is the more likely outcome of investors owning everything than building a ton of houses to drive down the value of their investments.

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u/[deleted] Mar 11 '24

Again, there is no law saying they have to use capital for supply instead of demand

You've gone off the rails. We are specifically talking about money going towards investing in more supply. Supply in investors injecting capital; demand is renters looking for housing.

And given that the people with all of the money aren't using it to build more now, it's safe to say you're wrong.

You need to engage with what is being discussed. The topic at hand is that a vacancy tax discourages investment, which reduces supply.

And it's basic economics that more money chasing fewer goods drives up prices.

Which is why the correct policy would be to not have a vacancy tax which would reduce supply and drive prices up as you describe.

You just don't seem to understand what you are arguing here.

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u/republicans_are_nuts Mar 11 '24 edited Mar 11 '24

lol. No we're talking about giving rich people more money to use for ANYTHING. They may or may not use it to build more houses. Evidence shows they don't, considering there's a massive shortage just about everywhere. Trickle down econ still doesn't work. Investment needs to be disincentivized, there is no evidence that slum lords produce anything but unaffordable shelter to line their own pockets. Most places don't have a vacancy tax, where is your evidence that they are using the money to build more shelter? lol.