Italy has been doing this for a while, in fact a lot of European economies--where it is legal. They should also include the drug trade too. Rents are high, because the banks made a deal with the govt. to get bail outs and to sit on the houses so ordinary people had less access to foreclosed homes. Then Wall Street banks securitized all these homes while converting to rentals. Look up American Homes for Rent, for example. Due to interest being so low, what homes that are available are being scooped by investors, not owners. Very low interest rates make it easy to borrow and reward speculators, but punish savers, the young, and the first time home buyer. So--they lower stds again. The real new bubble is massive sub-prime auto loans, however.