A market full of paradoxes

Buyers have leverage they can’t use, but developers have a socialist mayor they can. Americans love housing and hate data centers, but the country seems to feel the opposite. Everything’s weird.

Sep 21, 2026

∙ Paid

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, a democratic socialist, has struck up a friendly relationship with the city’s developers. (Photo by Adam Gray / POOL / AFP via Getty Images)

Housing this week is a tale of contradictions. Buyers have more leverage than they have had in more than a decade, but they aren’t feeling it. New York City’s socialist mayor is w…

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