Why doesn't your explanation apply to every commodity? Gold, cocoa, mustard seed, electricity? These are also essential products subject to the influence of markets and market makers.
> Gold, cocoa, mustard seed, electricity
I can easily live a full and meaningful life without owning gold, drinking cocoa or eating mustard. Those aren't essential and have decent substitutes.
Electricity is essential, just like housing and it's very highly regulated.
Just curious, where do you live that electricity is sold in an open market? Seems like a very strange setup.
You can substitute cocoa sources globally, but you can't substitute a house in Charlotte with one in Phoenix.
If cocoa prices spike, you buy less chocolate. If housing prices spike in your job market, your options are: pay more, endure a brutal commute, or uproot your life. The demand is far more inelastic.