Shadow Inventory - Does it exist?

"Shadow Inventory" refers to the banks holding on to foreclosed homes and not releasing them for sale. If the banks were to release all their inventory at once it would drive prices down further which is the big question people are wondering whether this will happen. Releasing all the inventory at once doesn't seem like a smart financial move on the banks part because they would be competing against themselves. (They lessen their chances of getting the highest and best price for one individual property.) I imagine the banks think it's smarter to release them one by one; banks are trying to avoid heavy losses so they are letting the inventory trickle slowly onto the market. That's why we see multiple offers on most homes. See a recent article about it on Bloomberg.com.