| 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. 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. |