alt Hacker NewsSome 10-15% of San Francisco housing is unoccupied. The exact why and how to fix it are arguable, but I'm doubtful the investment is actually helping.
https://www.pacificresearch.org/time-to-ask-why-so-many-san-...
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2 things:
- this article is out of date. The market has changed a lot since the AI boom. - That's a 10%ish of all housing in the city. Right now, of available units SF has one of the smallest vacancy rates in the country right now. The difference is (as the article alludes), apartments that are undergoing renovations, not currently permitted, etc.
When a good's supply is constrained, it becomes a store of value. See: gold.
Strangely enough, if housing got built in response to price increases, there would likely be less unused housing, because it would be seen less as a way to store capital.
Taxing empty housing seems like the obvious answer. Make it more expensive and more work to keep it empty than it is to fill it.
https://socketsite.com/archives/2022/02/there-are-not-40000-...