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Rents are dropping across the US

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Re: Rents are dropping across the US

#61
post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’m not sure why that’s a contradiction. If you could buy a nice new private jet for $100,000 it would be reasonable to call that a good deal, even if it’s more than what most people make in a year.

It's a contradiction because a regular 2-bed apartment is a basic essential necessity for human life, and not an extravagant ultra-luxury like a nice new private jet is.

I've been living in a 1-bed apartment for most of my adult life. Hasn't felt like I've been missing a necessity.

Re: Rents are dropping across the US

#62
post #3

"across the US" as in "in expensive coastal cities." I don't know the broader trend but, anecdotally, I know people who have/are in the process of moving out of cities for more rural locations. One couple I know just moved out of a major Northeast city to the coast of Maine. Others are seriously considering vacating NYC etc. With many tech industry jobs mostly WFH until the end of the year and the future in general u…

> Maybe not so good for those who were especially attached to either the vibrant city life or busy office life. I don't understand this reasoning. Was city life not vibrant when rents were 1/3rd the price? If anything, "hypergentrification" tends to have a sterilizing effect on city life. To be honest I'm kinda looking forward to it. Nothing against HENRYs (High earners, not rich yet)... but their "cultural tastes" a…

Yes, I've been thinking of this the same way. As someone who plans to stay in NYC, I'm looking forward to a time when WFH is more normalized and people who live in cities are people who want to live in cities, not people who need to live in cities. It could be win-win for both types.

Re: Rents are dropping across the US

#63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If you get too small though you go back to everything being 45 min drive away again like being in the suburbs of a city which is not at all sustainable. This is where I live. I love it. I encourage others to consider it unsustainable.

That's the thing with unsustainability, dude. No individual cares. It's about the aggregate.

I'm aware. Renewables and electric cars are on a tear. Don't force density when you can use technology instead to lower your impact. It's clear the city is too expensive for many, and folks are going to filter out of urban cores until a density equilibrium is reached.

Do you care if I live in the middle of nowhere in the mountains if all of my power is clean solar, our cars are electric, I work from home, and pay for carbon offsets for anything I need shipped to the home (until UPS, Fedex, and USPS electrify)? Personally, I'll pay whatever it costs to not have a neighbor within a 15 minute walk of my property, but still have national parks within a 30 minutes drive.

Re: Rents are dropping across the US

#64
post #3

"across the US" as in "in expensive coastal cities." I don't know the broader trend but, anecdotally, I know people who have/are in the process of moving out of cities for more rural locations. One couple I know just moved out of a major Northeast city to the coast of Maine. Others are seriously considering vacating NYC etc. With many tech industry jobs mostly WFH until the end of the year and the future in general u…

> Maybe not so good for those who were especially attached to either the vibrant city life or busy office life. I don't understand this reasoning. Was city life not vibrant when rents were 1/3rd the price? If anything, "hypergentrification" tends to have a sterilizing effect on city life. To be honest I'm kinda looking forward to it. Nothing against HENRYs (High earners, not rich yet)... but their "cultural tastes" a…

>Was city life not vibrant when rents were 1/3rd the price?

Vibrant may not have been the best choice of words. But there have certainly been periods over the past few decades when life in major cities was more dangerous, grittier, less polished, etc. than it was today. e.g. Bryant Park in the 80s, Some may not consider that a negative.

Re: Rents are dropping across the US

#65
post #38

Seems silly to discuss the falling rental prices in prestigious cities without even a nod to AirBNB. AirBNB rentals have collapsed , and so a lot of owners have moved their properties into conventional long-term rental. This has created a glut in the rental market, and is driving prices down. https://www.straight.com/news/some-vancouver-airbnb-units-ar...

Whats intriguing is the person doing the "calling out" in the article/on twitter is pointing out that these are supposed to be owner-occupied if listed on AirBnb.

Re: Rents are dropping across the US

#66
post #43

If we needed any more evidence the way to lower costs in the long term is building more housing. Supply and demand works people!

Except this proves the opposite. When we built, prices skyrocketed. When we stopped building (due to COVID), the prices began dropping. It's a combination of AirBNB being unable to illegally occupy housing, and the ultra-wealthy having a fear of urban density contagion. Demand is basically unchanged over the last 6 months, and the housing that exists is basically unchanged over the last 6 months, and yet prices are f…

> Demand is basically unchanged over the last 6 months

I'm calling major BS unless you can back that up with a source. This article talks about the major exodus in NYC: https://therealdeal.com/2020/06/02/new-yorkers-exodus-could-...

Re: Rents are dropping across the US

#67
That hasn't been my experience. My lease expires mid August, and I already got the lease renewal. The same level as the current one, not a dollar less. We started looking around. Everywhere the same, same level as the current one. I didn't get to ask about free months yet, maybe management companies will offer one-two months. But the actual rent per month is not going down, despite a significant number of vacancies.

Re: Rents are dropping across the US

#68
post #43

If we needed any more evidence the way to lower costs in the long term is building more housing. Supply and demand works people!

Except this proves the opposite. When we built, prices skyrocketed. When we stopped building (due to COVID), the prices began dropping. It's a combination of AirBNB being unable to illegally occupy housing, and the ultra-wealthy having a fear of urban density contagion. Demand is basically unchanged over the last 6 months, and the housing that exists is basically unchanged over the last 6 months, and yet prices are f…

Construction is still continuing and I don't think it ever stopped. I used to drive by 1550 mission and they were going at it hammer and tongs all through the entire period. So your premise is wrong: we didn't stop building. Most construction is covered as essential work.

Re: Rents are dropping across the US

#70
post #33
post #3

"across the US" as in "in expensive coastal cities." I don't know the broader trend but, anecdotally, I know people who have/are in the process of moving out of cities for more rural locations. One couple I know just moved out of a major Northeast city to the coast of Maine. Others are seriously considering vacating NYC etc. With many tech industry jobs mostly WFH until the end of the year and the future in general u…

> With many tech industry jobs mostly WFH until the end of the year and the future in general uncertain, a lot of people, especially those with leases coming up for renewal, are thinking this is a good time to make a move. Once the pandemic ends and employers stop allowing WFH again, there might be a large surge in pricing as suddenly everyone wants to get back into those cities.

The pandemic is here for at least 1-2 years in that time many businesses will have perfected WFH/remotely where possible. So I don't think they will go back to previous way of doing things that easily. Another thing is this pandemic also has shown the risk factor of having most of your workforce in one place/city. So even if businesses don't do wfh they would probably go for more satellite offices in smaller cities.
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