[bilbo0s]

Well maybe that's a bit of the problem.

People are saying they can't get an apartment in NYC. Which is met by disbelief by people who actually live in NYC.

I believe this might be due to the fact that people are really saying that they want a, say, lower Manhattan apartment but can't afford the good ones anywhere. These are probably upper middle class people trying to live a bit outside their means. It's not really that they can't afford NYC, they just don't want to live in Harlem. Or even in Brooklyn, which actually has pretty nice apartments. When I look around Harlem or the Bronx, I don't think, "empty".

Not being able to live where the rich people live is not a problem that society should spend much time solving. I'm one of the very comfortable upper middle class. Yet I don't have a Ferrari, nor do I own a condo on Miami Beach. (Or Manhattan for that matter.) That doesn't mean that society has some sort of housing and car imbalance that it needs to address.

There may indeed be an imbalance nationally, but NYC is definitely not any kind of example of one.

[Bubbadoo]

Guess you're not from NYC based on your post. So Brooklyn is the highest price real estate these days, with many apartments, brownstones and lofts renting for many 000s per month. Harlem has gone through a renaissance, with townhouses on formerly blighted blocks undergoing renovation and selling for $2-5MM. These are places that were used as crack houses in the late 80s and 90s. Word has it, new arrivals to the city are moving way up in the Bronx, but the commute is next to impossible. Suburbs are also ridiculously expensive places to rent or own. The problem, as this article states, is not yuppies wanting to live beyond their means, but an entire city full of wealthy. Yes, if you're a successful professional, you can afford something, but that pool of affordable housing is shrinking daily. I worked and lived in NYC for 30 years and I don't recognize it today.

[bobbydroptables]

NYC is definitely an example of a housing imbalance. It has nothing to do with UMC types not wanting to live in Harlem. It has to do with the fact that prices are ridiculous throughout the city. The quality of building you get for what you pay is way out of whack. The housing stock is old and generally low quality.

[lotsofpulp]

The prices are “in whack” for a sufficient number of people, as evidenced by the transaction clearing.

[bobbydroptables]

And the prices are deeply out of whack for large numbers of homeless people, broke people, uninsured people, people with unhealthy commutes, etc.

Yes there are plenty of bankers, yuppies and Russian billionaires to account for much of the city's real estate volume, if that's your point.