[dlcarrier]

That's usually called a negative cash flow, but it's not considered a loss. It's much riskier than owning a property with positive cash flow, so in areas where a mortgage payment would be larger than rent, it's much more common for investors to pay with cash, instead of borrowing against the property.

In theory it wouldn't have an effect on the rental market, but in practice cash buyers are much more likely to be corporate land owners, who tend to have higher margins than the casual investment property owner.