“High End” Apartment Construction Creates Mismatch of Supply and Demand

Re:“High End” Apartment Construction Creates Mismatch of Sup... by pmorici on Saturday October 13, 2018 @11:35AM (#18208423)

Yes, SF is a perfect example where demand so wildly outstrips supply that the dominating driver of cost is space. Whether it is nice space or a total dump is only a small percentage of what dictates the over all price.

Look at it this way, say a small apartment has 12 Square feet of counter space in the kitchen laminate counters cost $25 per square foot and granite costs $50. the relative cost difference between luxury and cheapo now is almost nothing once amortized and compared to the total rent.

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Re:“High End” Apartment Construction Creates Mismatch of Sup... by fierro on Saturday October 13, 2018 @12:21PM (#18208703)

This is a really interesting theory. Initially I read this and nodded in agreement. But now I question, if demand in SF is truly so high, wouldn't those renting out nicer places be able to charge more? An increase in overall demand means some portion of that is an increase in demand for "luxury" housing, so wouldn't the rent for those units rise accordingly?

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Re:“High End” Apartment Construction Creates Mismatch of Sup... by dmoy on Saturday October 13, 2018 @02:12PM (#18209234)

Because the prices are already super high for both? The primary utility there is close proximity to extremely high paying jobs.

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Re:“High End” Apartment Construction Creates Mismatch of Sup... by stephengillie on Saturday October 13, 2018 @03:29PM (#18209578)

Both examples are within a mile of Amazon's offices, and one bus away from Redmond.

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Re:“High End” Apartment Construction Creates Mismatch of Sup... by pmorici on Saturday October 13, 2018 @06:23PM (#18210341)

Nicer places can charge more. It's just what when push comes to shove people aren't going to move 5 hours away for nice finishes. They will how ever put up with cheap counter tops if it means being 1 block from the metro. The over riding factor as other have pointed out is space and location. everything else doesn't really move the needle when you are looking at markets with very high prices.

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Re:“High End” Apartment Construction Creates Mismatch of Sup... by YokoZar on Saturday October 13, 2018 @02:32PM (#18209326)

It is illegal to charge more for a lot of the places that could be made nicer. Demand remains, quality suffers.

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Re:“High End” Apartment Construction Creates Mismatch of Sup... by thatfrenchguy on Saturday October 13, 2018 @02:12PM (#18209236)

It’s fake luxury though :-/

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Re:“High End” Apartment Construction Creates Mismatch of Sup... by stephengillie on Saturday October 13, 2018 @07:33PM (#18210564)

"Luxury" is a normative term, a qualifier. Utility - how useful it is, it how many problems it solves - gives a more positive, quantative measure.

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