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> we've had 12% yearly rental increases for a decade straight now

That was part of the motivation for buying my first house. The rent was going up $50/month every 6 months, and the mortgage was going to cost only $100/month more than the rent. I figured in a year I'd break even, and in 2 years I'd be ahead.

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lol at assuming mortgage is the only expense to owning a house

More like lol at assuming your rent doesn't cover the other expenses of owning a house. You think your landlord is just taking the loss? When you rent, you are paying, if not directly, for every expense associated with the house, plus extra for the landlords profit margin.

The rental market and the home buying market as separate and not perfectly correlated. In SF right now, it's cheaper to rent than to buy, so yes, if a landlord bought today and rented it out they'd be taking a loss.

The thing is that landlords may have purchased the place a long time ago. They can still make a profit with rent being less than what a mortgage+ would be today.

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