I live in a major US city with strong demand for housing. Last year, a house on my street was purchased, but no one has ever moved in. During the first few months of this, my initial thought was that the buyer's plans had been disrupted by the craziness of Covid. As we are approaching the one year mark of the sale, I'm struggling to make sense of the situation.

* If the owner's intent was to move in, surely they could have done so by now. If this was their original plan, but is no longer their desire, the market is strong enough that they could break even or profit by reselling.
* If the property was meant to be an investment, why would it not have been rented? In this market, this property could easily rent for $20K annually. Even if the owner is not interested in acting as a landlord, this could be outsourced to a third party property management company.

Is there some arrangement that would make leaving the property vacant for a year more advantageous than renting it out, even in the face of high demand for housing?

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*Edit after feedback in comments/answers:*

The house appears to be very modern, and sold above the going rate in the area. It is unlikely that the buyer was planning on flipping the property.