News for hackers. Stuff that matters.

A comment on Let's Get Organized and Fix Housing Affordability in San Francisco. Parent comment

Re:Let's Get Organized and Fix Housing Affordability in San ... by benzofuran on Friday April 15, 2016 @03:38PM (#11507036)
If the tax disincentivizes boomers from buying real estate at asinine prices and then seeking rents to pay the resulting mortgages as an alternative to the stock market, then that should make property cheaper as it reduces the demand.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Let's Get Organized and Fix Housing Affordability in San ... by dkopi on Friday April 15, 2016 @03:46PM (#11507092)
In a market with limited supply, taxing homes for rent will raise rents to cover the additional taxes.

You don't solve a supply problem by adding taxes. If anything, that will reduce the supply even more.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Let's Get Organized and Fix Housing Affordability in San ... by Grishnakh on Monday April 18, 2016 @10:20AM (#11520058)
No, you need to massively jack up taxes to increase supply, and it will work. But you don't jack up taxes on homes for rent, you jack them up on the homes that aren't for rent: houses which are just sitting unoccupied. The taxes will encourage the owners to either rent them out or simply sell them off to someone who will (or who will at least live there). That increases supply.
[ Parent | on HN ]