[sokoloff]

That part is true, but the decision to take roommates vs not affects the demand on rental properties. The decision to rent a 2 or 3 BR instead of a 1 BR as a single person working from home affects the demand as well.

In a rent-control environment, people have incentive to hoard their rent-controlled apartment as well, especially if rents reset on turnover. If I have a rent-controlled apartment that's well below its replacement cost to me, I'm going to be more inclined to keep it when I initially move in with a significant other. If that relationship fails, I can move back. If it were a market rate apartment, I'd have much less to almost no incentive to do that.

[ericd]

Yep, I know at least one family that’s pretty well off that held onto their rent controlled place for years after no longer living in it, and then essentially passed it down to their kids. They basically own that apartment for less than it’d cost to maintain if they actually owned it, in terms of HOA/property tax, since the rent is stuck where it was like 30 years ago.

And when I was looking for a place, I came across a couple people playing landlord and trying to sublet out their rent controlled place for more than they were paying the landlord.

It’s pretty broken, at least in NYC.