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Originally Posted by eschaton
if a market distorts to the point that three bedroom houses are being occupied by three single people (or worse yet, three couples) it means that families with kids are absolutely doomed in the housing market, because they'd need to make significantly more than all the single people in order to bid into similar units, whether for rent or for sale.
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In San Francisco, that's called a TIC (Tenant in Common) unit which came into being because the city restricted conversion of rental units to condos so another form of ownership was invented. Most of these are multifloored Victorian homes that have been turned into units--first rented, then sold as TICs--and in most cases they have been remodeled so each floor has an entrance.
There aren't many remaining 3 bedroom units other than single family homes--that is, 3 bedroom apartments are scarce. Nevertheless, a significant number of those renting at market rate have roommates sharing them, each having a bedroom (the city doesn't allow that on subsidized units I don't think).
There are also large homes with many young single people living in them in bunk beds (in other words, either the bedrooms have several beds in them or have been subdivided). These have various names--"incubators", "coliving spaces" and so on. They are now building new "coliving" buildings where everybody has a small cubicle-like room, possibly a private bathroom, but cooking facilities and "living room" spaces are shared.
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I agree that most people would prefer to rent a room in a house than in an apartment. But most people would prefer to rent their own studio or one-bedroom over sharing a unit with strangers - far and away. Some young people do go through a phase where they want to live with friends when they're young, but most even grow out of that by their late 20s.
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