The most effective way to lower housing prices is to increase supply. Instead of artificially freezing rents, which discourages investment, policymakers should remove regulations that make building new units difficult. More construction creates more competition, which naturally drives down prices for everyone.

Housing unaffordability isn't a market malfunction but a result of political decisions that incentivize rising prices to benefit homeowners, who are a powerful voting bloc. This restricts supply and blocks development, creating an intergenerational crisis.

Price caps can devastate small-time landlords, like retirees dependent on rental income, by setting rent below their costs for taxes and maintenance. This turns the property into a money-losing asset that is impossible to sell, effectively destroying the owner's life savings and retirement plan.

New rent control laws don't just limit rent; they fundamentally cap the equity upside for real estate investors. By limiting potential cash flow growth from an asset, these policies make building or upgrading apartment buildings less attractive. This discourages the very capital investment needed to solve the housing supply crisis.

Rent control policies are fundamentally flawed because they disrupt the economic incentives required to maintain and build housing. Landlords, maintenance workers, and manufacturers won't provide their services at a loss, which inevitably leads to a decrease in housing supply and quality.

Homeowners and local governments block new development, creating artificial scarcity that drives up prices, similar to how luxury brands like LVMH restrict supply to increase value. This "LVMH-ing" of housing makes it unaffordable for younger generations and limits economic mobility.

By restricting new housing development (NIMBYism), current homeowners artificially inflate their property values. This system is not an accident but a mechanism that effectively transfers wealth from younger generations trying to enter the market to the established incumbents who benefit from the very scarcity they help create.

Once rent stabilization is in place, the cost of building maintenance inevitably outpaces capped rental income due to inflation. This makes the property unprofitable, disincentivizes upkeep, and guarantees the property’s decline, regardless of the owner's intentions.

The history of rent control in New York City shows how price caps disincentivize maintenance and new construction. This leads to a death spiral of deteriorating housing stock, supply shortages, abandonment, and ultimately higher market rents for any new, uncontrolled units.