The higher interest rates also discourages investors from buying houses too. Not because they don’t have the money to just pay cash for houses as investments, but because a high interest rate means there are MUCH SAFER investments that offer good returns than buying someone’s sketchy house in an uncertain housing market with disproportionately rising rent rates and are raising questions with lawmakers about rent stabilization.
Those investors can simply park their money in a bank and get decent nearly risk free returns on their money with zero work.