Banks becoming landlords?

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Century 21 Chief Executive Thomas R. Kunz, who has been in Southern California visiting the local troops this week, has observed what readers of this blog already know: Sales activity is picking up as foreclosures pile up and prices keep falling.

But his SoCal field report contained this surprising nugget: Kunz said a few local offices told him that banks are starting to rent out some of their foreclosed properties rather than sell them. ‘It’s not widespread, but it’s an interesting twist to this whole thing,’ he said by phone today.

Perhaps with so many repossessed homes in their inventories, banks are finding it easier to hire a property manager than try to sell them in a market flooded with foreclosures? Anyone else seeing this going on?

-- Peter Y. Hong