These are good points. In a place where rent was actually cheaper, moving from place to place would be more of a nusence and less of a gamble with homelessness. The reality is that people will need to rent because they need a place to live, and that renting isn’t a great solution compared to buying, that not everyone can afford to buy, that some renters can destroy investments and prevent a place from being rented again, lots of landlords are predatory with their rent increases.

One thing that that doesn’t seem to be true at least with what I’ve seen, is that lots of rentals prevent buyers from buying houses. I’ll leave the ethics of should someone buy a house with existing renters who will need to be evicted to another discussion. That said, buyers who are interested in a house can usually make an offer even if the house is not on the market, and that offer may even be accepted, pending the end of the rental contract or if the contract allows, 30 days notice. I was kicked out of an apartment this way - I didn’t have to go, but they were renovating and the new rent would be $400 more, or I could buy it outright as their endgoal was to sellt hem as condos. Lots of management companies are also realtor companies. After I moved out of the last rental, it was sold for half a million dollars (it wasn’t near that nice, very tiny and very old with outdated wiring) about a month after I moved out. The photos to sell that place were unreal, they must have done a complete makeover the day after I moved out and sold it less than 30 days later.

The two major issues with the US housing market right now are:

• The prices are high because the demand is high. My advice to buyers is offer 50k over asking price at least to start. When the seller gets multiple offers yours has a better chance at being one of the higher offers in that bundle. Houses can be sold in a week.
• The interest rates right now are so bad that no one who has an existing mortage at a decent rate wants to sell, as it would mean financing another home at a much higher rate. This limits inventory of houses available for buyers and renters alike. My advice to buyers is please, please try to wait until the interest rates return to something below 4.5%, ideally something like 3%.