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US reps urge DOJ to investigate anticompetitive conduct affecting apartment rent

klobuchar.senate.gov

61–70 of 168 posts

Re: US reps urge DOJ to investigate anticompetitive conduct affecting apartment rent

#61

It really was something to see. Over the course of about 5 years, somehow magically the rent for a two bedroom corporate apartment in every city in the US converged on ~$1800.

Nah. Where I live, $1800 will rent you a really nice 3br duplex or house.

Re: US reps urge DOJ to investigate anticompetitive conduct affecting apartment rent

#62
post #40
post #21

Price controls are ineffective long term but can be a useful stopgap measure in the short term. The only solution to this is dealing with supplyside issues, notably the artificial constraints on housing supply. This is longer term.So the pricing algorithms are a natural reaction to market forces. Here are some more important things you can do in the short term to increase supply: 1. Outlaw (at the local and state lev…

You're close, and those are all reasonable steps. Re 2: My test is, the owner(s) (all on the title) must _reside_ in the house for at least 35% of the year. That allows summer / winter homes for snowbirds, as well as moves, but makes it impossible to get the tax break on 3 properties in a given year. House ZONING, anti-NIMBY, is also a major contributing factor. There should be rules much more like Japan's 'impact ba…

I don't even have a single house and you're worried about a second house being taxed too much?

Re: US reps urge DOJ to investigate anticompetitive conduct affecting apartment rent

#63
post #30

> pricing algorithms to adjust prices on vacant apartments in real time… The program may also induce landlords to charge the rents recommended by the algorithm, putting upward pressure on prices and decreasing the availability of affordable apartments. Wait until she hears about hotels and flights. > The software analyzes non-public data that RealPage gathers from its property management clients, including confidenti…

What comparison between hotels and flights is being missed? I don't know as much about hotel pricing, but my understanding of flight pricing is that it's done with buckets of fare classes: prices are set in buckets, and they only go up (or down) as each bucket is exhausted (or re-opened, if a ticket is canceled). I'm sure it's more complicated than that these days, but I don't think it's directly comparable to the re…

Flight prices are adjusted far more frequently than rental properties. Just get updates on a tracked flight ~6 months from now and watch it change weekly or even daily.

Re: US reps urge DOJ to investigate anticompetitive conduct affecting apartment rent

#64

Quoted post unavailable.

> The fact Twitter was able to get away with kicking off a US President without any ramifications is frightening.

Your stance is the government should be able to compel private businesses to be mouthpieces for government officials? Seems pretty authoritarian.

Re: US reps urge DOJ to investigate anticompetitive conduct affecting apartment rent

#65

Quoted post unavailable.

> The fact Twitter was able to get away with kicking off a US President without any ramifications is frightening.

It'd be pretty frightening if the President could require private businesses to publish his writings via a special just-for-him exception to their normal rules.

> Murders do not get solved anymore and our cities are unsafe.

Cops were reporting 100% homicide clearance rates in the 1960s; it's highly unlikely it was anything near that. Statistically - even with the 2022 uptick - we're in one of the safest societies in human history. There has been an absolutely enormous drop in crime rates, year after year, since the 1970s.

Re: US reps urge DOJ to investigate anticompetitive conduct affecting apartment rent

#67

Quoted post unavailable.

> The nastiest one is big tech.

True.

> These companies should be broken up.

True.

> The fact Twitter was able to get away with kicking off a US President without any ramifications is frightening.

ah, what? You seem to have conveniently left out the fact that he had a significant role in the attempted overthrow of the US government? What do you expect Twitter to do? Just let it happen unchecked? "all enemies foreign and domestic" remember?

Re: US reps urge DOJ to investigate anticompetitive conduct affecting apartment rent

#69
post #21

Price controls are ineffective long term but can be a useful stopgap measure in the short term. The only solution to this is dealing with supplyside issues, notably the artificial constraints on housing supply. This is longer term.So the pricing algorithms are a natural reaction to market forces. Here are some more important things you can do in the short term to increase supply: 1. Outlaw (at the local and state lev…

More taxes are the answer to cheaper housing!

Re: US reps urge DOJ to investigate anticompetitive conduct affecting apartment rent

#70

Quoted post unavailable.

> reason is that these announcements allow them to win both ways. They are basically just summoning lobbyists

Well, yes. They’re soliciting input. If you feel strongly about this, contact your representatives. If only industry reaches out and zero voters give a shit, that means it’s not an issue a primary opponent could use to unseat them, it’s not worth creating political enemies over, the status quo is fine and it should go to the bottom of the pile.

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