The high cost of homes/renting in the major renters are caused by fed easy money policy.
The way it works is that the cheap money has to have somewhere to go. One of those places is investment in real estate by hedge funds.
They focus their investments on “hot” markets like NYC, DC, LA, SF, SEA creating a buying frenzy.
They ignore Des Moines, Iowa or Columbus, OH.
Normal people need to stay away from markets where the hedge funds go to feed.
Cheap money hurts everyone, even those who try to get by. Price is completely subjective. The only reason cars, kitchen wares, homes, cost what they do is other people, who are not thrifty, are willing to go into debt to pay for those things. They push up the prices for all of us. It is the economic rule that price is set by how much cash is chasing a particular product.