If I own an investment property, then I'm going to want a return on that investment.
I want the rent payments to cover the mortgage, and to see capital growth over time.
When you don't get decent returns on your property investment, you'll just move your investment elsewhere.
However with a lack of diverse investment opportunities, housing is a decent play that people understand. So even if returns are low, it's seen as worthwhile, especially over the long term.
This is especially true when you get the much hated "Boomers" and older X-Gens buying properties for their children as it's seen as a better use of money than their kids renting.
I've seen queues of people down the street for open-inspections of average properties, and "Boomers" literally signing offers on the kitchen table at the open of any decent apartment.
If property investors art investing, then builders will stop building and we'll deepen the housing crisis. We've already seen a few major building firms go under in the past 18 months. It's not easy to create a building firm capable of sizeable construction project. It takes years to trade school investment to actually train and qualify people to be able to build houses, and we've under invested in trade schools.
There is a general sentiment on Reddit and elsewhere that if you cant afford the mortgage rises then you shouldn't own an investment property. This just doesnt make any sense, and isn't a useful way to think about it. I get that people are angry with the situation, but it doesn't help change society and housing policy when the younger millennials don't understand all the policy issues or motivations of those that own Rental Properties. :-)
I see regular calls to ban AirBnb as if thats an easy answer... :-/