> I'm imagining a scenario where two iBuyer companies try to outbid each other algorithmically, driving the prices further and further out of reach of people wh

> I'm imagining a scenario where two iBuyer companies try to outbid each other algorithmically, driving the prices further and further out of reach of people who are looking for a primary home. That’s not how market making works. Market makers don’t consume other peoples’ orders, which is required to push up the asked price or down the bid price. Market making is effectively (1) observing that the market is currently willing to buy some asset at the price A and sell it at the price B (where A < B) and then (2) simultaneously submitting a buy order at price A1 (where A1 > A) and a sell order at price B1 (where B1 < B). Thus the market maker reduces the difference between the buy price and sell price (the “spread”).