We're skeptical, because the theory keeps coming back and the inventory keeps failing to show up. Over a decade ago, when prices were grinding up a few percent a year, the story was that banks were sitting on millions of foreclosed homes and would dump them to trigger another leg down. That flood never materialized. The theory has since shifted to builders: the claim that they hold finished homes off the market to avoid flooding it. People point to a new-home community advertising two available homes while seven look complete. There was a real but narrow version of this at one point. A parts shortage (garage door openers, of all things) held up certificates of occupancy on some finished homes, which let builders slow-play a handful of completions. That was a supply hiccup, a long way from a coordinated stockpile kept from buyers. If you want to sanity-check any version of the theory, watch the numbers that actually move prices: - Active inventory and months of supply - New-listing counts - How long homes sit before selling Those tell you far more about a market than an anecdote about one builder's sign. And treat any "they can't give homes away" claim with the same skepticism you'd give any other unsourced hot take.