system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: Why are typically those cities with the highest housing prices so crowded?

And how can actually so many people afford living in e.g. New York, Hong Kong or Paris, when the average housing prices are so incredibly high?
gpt
You are looking at it backwards. The prices are high BECAUSE it's crowded.

Those places are crowded because more people want to live there. Each place has their own specific reasons, but the crowds CAUSE the price.