The carrying cost of a landlord is completely different than the carrying cost of a buyer with a mortgage. A landlord can charge a profitable rent on a property that doesn't even pay the mortgage interest if you were to buy it.

This is a common case. I recently sold a house with a mortgage where my carrying costs were far below that of any buyer of the house, meaning I could break-even renting at a rate that would leave a new buyer losing thousands of dollars per month. You'd be an idiot to not rent in that market but there is no shortage of buyers.

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cramsession a day ago | parent [-]

Landlords charge market rate. It has little to do with their costs. The

	▲	jandrewrogers a day ago \| parent [-]
		Of course. But as several people have pointed out, the market rate can be far below the equivalent purchase cost and landlords can still make a profit in those markets. There are many markets where the rental rates are far below mortgage costs for long periods of time.