Ryan Bourne's Supremacy - Econlib
The quantity of rent-controlled apartments demanded thus becomes enormous. In New York City, some old rent-controlled units have become family heirlooms. A woman went viral on TikTok in 2021 after showcasing her redecorated $1,300 a month rent-controlled two-bedroom apartment on the Upper West Side, after inheriting the lease from her parents—a unit that would rent for three to five times as much on the open market. In Stockholm, Sweden, where strict controls have been enforced for decades, the average wait time for a rent-controlled unit was 9 years by 2021 and may now exceed 20 years. The supply-side response is also consistent with economic theory. In 1994, San Francisco expanded rent control to small multifamily housing, which was previously exempt. One study shows that the supply of rental accommodation from affected landlords fell by 15 percent, with the number of renters living in such units falling by a quarter. The lower profitability of rental units saw many landlords s
