by Aaliya Mariam Qassim
Abstract
This study examines the impacts of strict rent control policies on large-scale multifamily apartment building values, as measured by their transaction prices. The analysis is conducted using sales data from 2010 to 2025 and a three-case framework to assess differential effects upon either implementation, tightening, or credible threat of controls. The first depends on the introduction of controls in Saint Paul, Minnesota and finds that values declined by 20.1% – 29.9% with moderate levels of statistical significance. Next, we assess impacts of tightened controls using New York City’s enactment of the Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act (HSTPA), estimating that values decreased by 19.9% – 38.0%. However, this NYC case is weakly significant and impaired by small sample constraints. Finally, this paper is among the first to exploit the validation of credible rent control threats in Minneapolis, Minnesota. We find that the risk of future rent-restrictive regulations alone triggers value reductions in the range of 26.9% – 48.2%. These results remained our most statistically significant and robust, likely as a result of the higher transaction volume Minneapolis’ market benefits from. Analyzing these three cases suggests that strict rent controls impair investment incentives in the multifamily residential housing (MFRH) sector by reducing property values, likely constraining the very housing supply needed to alleviate rental burdens. Future studies would do well to assess parallel outcomes upon use of less restrictive regulations, offering valuable evidence to guide future policy decisions.
Data is proprietary
Connel Fullenkamp, Faculty Advisor
Michelle Connolly, Faculty Advisor
