Due to the financialization of housing in today's market, housing risks
are increasingly becoming financial risks. Financialization refers to
the increasing dominance of financial actors, markets, practices,
measurements and narratives. It also refers to the resulting structural
transformation of economies, firms, states and households. This book
asserts the centrality of housing to the contemporary capitalist
political economy and places housing at the centre of the
financialization debate.
A global wall of money is looking for High-Quality Collateral (HQC)
investments, and housing is one of the few asset classes considered HQC.
This explains why housing is increasingly becoming financialized, but it
does not explain its timing, politics and geography. Presenting a
diverse range of case studies from the US, the UK, the Netherlands,
Germany, Italy and Spain, the chapters in this book include coverage of
the role of the state as the driver of financialization processes, and
the part played by local and national histories and institutions. This
cutting edge volume will pave the way for future research in the area.
Where housing used to be something "local" or "national", the two-way
coupling of housing to finance has been one crucial element in the
recent crisis. It is time to reconsider the financialization of both
homeownership and social housing. This book will be of interest to those
who study international economics, economic geography and
financialization.
