At least in our city, another big thing that seems to be tied to cheap credit is the rise of house flipping. Fueled by cheap interest rates and low capital gains taxes, it's easy for a decently capitalized speculator to buy up older houses, do quick, cursory updates to the interior modeling, and then put them back on the market again at a significant markup.
This is a quadruple whammy for people who just want somewhere to live. It means people who only have budget for an older home need to be hasty with purchases so they can get ahead of the speculators. It directly reduces the supply of homes by extending the period in which they aren't occupied. It reduces the supply of more affordable housing by quickly converting it all into more expensive housing. And it robs people who might want to fix up their own home of the opportunity to choose their own decor.
It's not actually front running, but it still feels like a similar kind of problem.
This is a quadruple whammy for people who just want somewhere to live. It means people who only have budget for an older home need to be hasty with purchases so they can get ahead of the speculators. It directly reduces the supply of homes by extending the period in which they aren't occupied. It reduces the supply of more affordable housing by quickly converting it all into more expensive housing. And it robs people who might want to fix up their own home of the opportunity to choose their own decor.
It's not actually front running, but it still feels like a similar kind of problem.