Financialization of Rental Housing: The Emergence of New Real Estate-Financial Accumulation Asset in Santiago and São Paulo

Abstract

This article analyzes the emergence of a new financial real estate asset in the rental housing market in Santiago, Chile, and São Paulo, Brazil, within the framework of a global context of transformation and growth in rental housing markets in various cities worldwide. Using the concept of financialization, a “common trajectory” is identified in both urban contexts, where rental housing is configured as a new form of capturing financial rents. This primarily qualitative study, based on a mixed-methods approach, grounds its findings in interviews, reports, and analyses of specialized media. It explores the circulation of finance in the production and management of new real estate products, the actors and connections involved, as well as the configuration of residential rent in each case, with particular attention given to the emergence and role of corporate landlords in these emerging markets.