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I'm bringing the real fucking ingredient (talent) and not these unproductive and fucking uncultured absentee landlord fucksticks (half of whom don't even live in the city, and what the fuck are we doing allowing foreign speculators, i.e. third-world despots and their henchmen, to own property here when we can't even provide for our own fucking people?) who've stolen most of my savings. I'm sorry, but this is a really poor way to look at things. First of all, while I appreciate that you're unhappy about having to pay a lot of rent to live in New York, I don't think it's really fair to make ad hominem attacks on a (pretty diverse) group of people you know nothing about. Second of all, the reason that it's expensive to live in New York basically boils down to the fact that a lot of people want to live there. As you pointed out, talented people flock to the city and are a key ingredient of the incredibly rich economic substrate - but there's also the cultural opportunities, schools, social scene, etc etc. Of course, all of these things are interlinked and reinforce one another - but at the end of the day, the price of housing is dictated by supply and demand. Thirdly, real estate developers are entrepreneurs, too - they typically take on huge risks over long periods of time to create actual products that are (hopefully) incredibly valuable for their customers. I'd argue that housing is a lot more important to most folks than another social media app or whatever. Finally, in the case of property owners (not developers), they're simply holding onto an asset and trying to optimize their returns. I don't see how this is morally objectionable as long as they don't do anything underhanded (which certainly does happen). But at the end of the day, they're simply trying to ask for however much money people are willing to pay for their products. |
Actually, it's demand inelasticity (small shortages => huge price spikes) and regulatory corruption/malfeasance that prevents the supply from properly expanding to meet the need.
"A lot of people want to live in New York" is not a useful statement because there's also "a lot" of housing here. It's just tied up by foreign speculators (who really shouldn't be allowed to own; we need a six-months-and-one-day rule in NYC where if you don't live here, you must sell) and rent-control (I have no problem with the people for whom it was originally intended having it; not their upper-middle-class grandkids) and worst of all, those NIMBY assholes who block supply expansion.
the price of housing is dictated by supply and demand.
There's way too much malfeasance in the urban real estate markets of most big cities for there to be a fair market. See above.
Thirdly, real estate developers are entrepreneurs, too - they typically take on huge risks over long periods of time to create actual products that are (hopefully) incredibly valuable for their customers.
Actually, RE developers are not the ones I am talking about. I agree: if you build something, you have the right to earn for the work you did. Land ownership makes no sense in urban areas. The fact that the concept still exists makes me feel like I'm in the 1700s.
Finally, in the case of property owners (not developers), they're simply holding onto an asset and trying to optimize their returns.
If you're passively earning rents, fine. Good for you. If you're one of those assholes who votes down new development for the purpose of keeping your properly values high, then you deserve to be eaten by piranhas.