What gets me is even if the number was significantly smaller the fallout effect is massive. A common argument I've heard defending the practice is "well they didn't buy that many homes, it was just a small portion of total sales" ...implying that its not a big deal.
Lets no argue the truthiness of that statement but look at it as stated. They buy one house within a 10-20 mile radius away from you and they do so aggressively paying 20-30%+ over the pre-bubble price (think early pandemic times when prices were more realistic then they are now)
Well now thats the anchor price on comps for the next guy just looking to sell his house. Rinse and repeat a few times with anchored expectations on an inflated value and we have runaway prices.
Lets no argue the truthiness of that statement but look at it as stated. They buy one house within a 10-20 mile radius away from you and they do so aggressively paying 20-30%+ over the pre-bubble price (think early pandemic times when prices were more realistic then they are now)
Well now thats the anchor price on comps for the next guy just looking to sell his house. Rinse and repeat a few times with anchored expectations on an inflated value and we have runaway prices.