The reason for this could be a lack of people coming into the country that need a home. If the number of people entering a country is minimal, the demand won't go up, and almost everyone can afford a home. If there are far more people entering then homes get chopped up into apartments and each rented out for the same price the whole house would've been rented for a few years ago. Landlords in this situation are just adjusting the supply to meet the demand, and to be honest doing a better job than, say, the UK government, who just pay taxpayer money to hotels and stick people in them.