It should be noted that the rent control laws in particular were pretty egregious. Mandatory 3 year terms. And inflation was so high that landlords had to set insane numbers to justify the contracts.<p>I suspect that what you saw was a lot of "informal" housing inventory that was being kept off-market was put on the market for the first time.<p>I wouldn't expect this to be stable in the long run. This is a more efficient market now, and if it's cheaper and easier to find housing in the city... that's going to bring more people to the city.