So if the previous owners moved out and then repainted the house and sold it for 20% additional value, would they be villains too? Or is it okay because they're "middle class" and Zillow's shareholders presumably are just yacht-owning billionaires?
was that their goal? it's possible to be a market maker without cornering/manipulating the market. see: market makers on stock markets.
They were scalping housing.
"Scalping" makes zero sense in this context. Scalping exploits ticket mispricing and asymmetrical access to the market (waiting in line). Houses are bought at auction; you can't "scalp" at an auction. Try it at Christie's sometime.
They were literally scalping properties. And, like a scalper who has too much inventory, they’re now selling at a loss.