For some reason, it seems I’m not able to communicate what I’m trying to communicate.
Once more, flippers/speculators do not always put their flips/investments on the market immediately after buying them (zero days). If there were no time lags, you’d have a point. You’re neglecting the time lags (marketing, fixing up, escrow, intentionally holding things off the market if the market slows, etc.). Three months can make a big difference in the housing market, and it influences the behavior of all other buyers.
Housing is not a liquid market, and if the number of new flippers/speculators overwhelms the new supply, they become the market — temporarily (weeks, months, years) pushing prices up until they collectively release the inventory onto the market.
If one flipper is selling while two more are buying, and this activity continues over a period of time, speculators are absolutely going to affect the supply/demand ratios and greatly affect pricing. Additionally, it’s very common to see flippers selling to other flippers/speculators. You can have a “false” supply/demand ratio in the market for a long, long time. I don’t know how else to explain it.
