
Lenders are withholding inventory across the Southwestern United States in hopes of creating a shortage of supply to reverse the downward spiral in home prices. Lenders constantly try to balance two competing forces. First, lenders need to get their money back. Dead money tied up in non-performing assets does not contribute positively to their bottom line. Further, this money also cannot be used to fund ongoing operations. This puts enormous pressure on lenders to liquidate and put their capital toward a productive use. On the other hand, if they liquidate too quickly, house prices go down which reduces the amount of capital they recover. Taken in the context of all their holdings, declining asset values wipes the equity from their…[READ MORE]