Do Rent Increases Reduce the Housing Supply under Rent Control? Evidence from Evictions in San Francisco

Rent control balances strong tenant protections with supply-side incentives for landlords. However, cities with rent control are also some of the United States\u27 most unaffordable, prompting questions about how well these incentives are working. I examine how controlled landlords change their housing supply in response to price increases using a well-identified hyperlocal demand shock the privately operated commuter shuttle systems in San Francisco. Controlled landlords increased market withdrawal filings and became less likely to create vacancies via evictions in response to a shuttle stop placement. Policies raising barriers to market withdrawals prompted controlled landlords to respond my increasing their at-fault evictions