When Kevin Weller signed a lease at Portside Towers in Jersey City, New Jersey, the rent was already steep — around $4,500 a month. Living just across the Hudson River from Manhattan might have made it worth it, but it hardly made it manageable. By the time his first lease ended, he was shocked to learn that his rent would jump $1,500 a month. Soon, he discovered that many of his neighbors were facing similar hikes, with increases reaching 30% to 40% .

This wasn’t the result of sudden building upgrades or soaring property taxes. The new rates were being set by an algorithm.

Algorithms are quietly reshaping American housing — not through real market forces, but through engineered scarcity and price manipulation.

RealPage, a Texas-based company, produces rent-setting software now used i

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