If that were true, then many units would be empty. In my city prices are high but vacancy is low. So, how are the prices too high? People are paying them. If there were more supply, prices would drop, but laws prevent increasing supply.
> If that were true, then many units would be empty.
This is literally true. In SF as of 2023, there's roughly 60,000 vacant units. In New York as of 2021, apartments listed as available and unavailable for rent but also vacant was around 89,000.
To contrast, there was around 7,700 unhoused people in SF in 2023.
Once you consider apartments in between leases, apartments in Reno, and anything else without a certificate of occupancy, that sounds like the right amount for a hot market with low vacancies