I wouldn't worry about it that much. As far as the newest data show, REO-to-rental pretty much dried up in 2013, because all of the decent available foreclosures are gone now. It was a thing for that time and place. Eventually, a lot of the houses will be resold at market rates. I bought a house in 2011. It was hell getting a mortgage. Credit was almost non-existent. There were a lot of foreclosures, but most of the sales were restricted to cash only. Average home buyers don't tend to have a few hundred thousand liquid. Hence, this weird investment vehicle for large firms. All things considered, as ugly as this looks, it probably helped to bring prices back up in many places, which is a good thing for homeowners. I wouldn't worry about price collusion in housing. It's too big for even big banks to control.