[reeddavid]

The recent outrage over RealPage seems misplaced, at least here in Seattle where demand for housing is so much higher than supply. There are so many restrictions on new housing. We're considered a liberal city, but plenty of our residents have really conservative views around housing and work against increasing housing supply.

It seems to me that RealPage simply helps landlords assess the market price for apartments. Sort of like how "Redfin Estimate" and Zillow's "Zestimate" help homeowners assess the market value of their house. The reason houses and apartments are expensive is because the market rate is so high.

My test for whether RealPage is anticompetitive would be: does RealPage induce multiple landlords to withhold apartments from the market in order to intentionally restrict supply and drive up rents? (Or, does RealPage just clue them in to how high the market rents are?)

[naijaboiler]

I disagree. Realpage is essentially turning a competitive market (multiple buyers, multiple sellers) into a quasi-monopoly market (multiple buyers,one seller). Econ 101 tells you the result of that is higher prices, lower quantity, less incentive to improve or innovate.

State policies may indeed be already limiting supply, realpage makes things worse.

[fsckboy]

> We're considered a liberal city, but plenty of our residents have really conservative views around housing and work against increasing housing supply.

you can't create a system with politically "liberal" rules ("let's have the government control the economy") and then say it's "conservatives" who are holding things up.

the politically conservative position would be let owners of property do what they want with it, including developing it into more housing if they want.

not saying one system is better than the other, just saying you're simply using liberal and conservative to mean good and bad.