Comment by WalterBright
5 hours ago
If you look closer, it's still Supply & Demand ruling.
Housing is unused when the revenue from rents is less than the cost of taking care of the renter. Renting out a place can have high costs, like having a bad renter.
BTW, rentals can also remain unrented because if the landlord rents it at the current rental rate, rent control laws may force him to maintain that low rent for the long term.
Hence, it is less risky to just leave it vacant.
Rent control has all kinds of self-defeating consequences.