[paulmd]

No, they don’t, the optimal amount of units vacant is not zero to begin with, and in fact the profit-maximizing number of vacant units is likely considerably higher than the market-optimal price.

Sellers like a market with constricted supply, it’s like nobody remembers OPEC. And with a computer program to tell them when to leave units vacant and when to raise the price, they’ve outsourced the cartel actions.

Anyway, this is another "thinking econ-101 charts are real" oopsie. Everyone likes the nice single-line supply/demand charts. But profit-maximizing often isn't the same thing as market-clearing for a variety of reasons. The whole point of the rent-cartel program was that it's better to raise 95% of rents and leave 5% of units vacant than to have 100% of units with a lower more competitive rate. But also things like the materials used to produce goods having their own price curves with prices rising as their own demands increase etc. A "market clearing" price in an efficient market leaves zero profit for producers by definition, nobody wants that, so we inherently live in some combination of inefficient market and above-clearing prices.

[HDThoreaun]

Vacancy rates across the country are at all time lows. Im sympathetic to the collusion with realpage argument, but with vacancy rates this low Im not buying it.

[CalRobert]

We should be enforcing laws against collusion, of course. OPEC works because it's not subject to laws against its behaviour, being supranational.