First off I think you’re a kid who’s never rented before because you’d know a 2br is sometimes less expensive than a 1br given the supply of 1brs is so low. Secondly you just argued that there’s a shortage in luxury apartments and if we continue to increase the supply of luxury apartments then bare bones apartments will become cheaper. This isn’t true. A Honda Civic doesn’t become cheaper the more bmws and Mercedes are produced. Honda sees the market trends and now produces a $30,000 Honda Civic to compete with bmw and Mercedes. When you make so Many luxury apartments, landlords renovate their properties and charge more for them.

If you want to put pressure on landlords to lower their prices you need two things: an absolute ton of cheap, mass produced, barebones apartments for less than market value, and a tenants union that stands together and refuses to pay more. Every time someone accepts a higher price for apartments they undercut the bargaining power of every other tenant.