Please don't post trollish comments to HN. We're trying for a different kind of discussion here.

https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

The only people whining and wanting things ”for free” are the rent seekers who sought to eliminate property taxes so they could impede economic progress and live for free and try to prevent anyone else from moving in because “muh soul“ (translation: “muh property value”)

Those aren't market rates. Those prices are the result of significantly restrictive land use laws that manipulate the price of land.

Perhaps semantics here, but it is market rate. The market is just very restricted. "Market rate" doesn't imply no regulations.

Perhaps true that it is semantics, but I would call that a cartel rate, not a market rate.

Correction: you are right, "market rate" implies free market, which means free from government intervention -- which is very much not the case when it comes to housing.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Market_rate

> less than market rates for housing

Would you be ok with private owners being able to buy up all your water and only selling when they want to at the "market rate"?

If speculators can buy up all the available property, why not allow them to buy up a region's drinking water too? I'd be the first to jump in and get massive loans investing in it. When it all dries up and no one wants to sell, will people be cheering on the free market here?

People would be willing to transport water into this region and capture some of the profits.

Or maybe there would be a revolt because there is no water.

Or people would love to a region with affordable water