But yet they can keep finding people willing to pay such high rent.

Not always, especially if it’s a company that’s holding a lot of units – they’ll keep the rents high even if they can’t fill all of them to ensure the valuation of the others stays high. The math works out such that they’ll earn more from 12x$2000 than 20x$1000, for example. Plus, not as much money spent on upkeep for unused units.

Edit: And quick edit to add, the best way to fix this is to tax unused units or property (roughly, there’s a lot of nuance there). In fact, that would fix a lot of the current housing and rental market insanity. It’ll be a monumental effort to push past realty lobbying, but any time you see this proposal pop up in regional politics, please show up and voice your support if able.

Think about how fast you can evacuate from the cocaine after snorting cocaine