Reinforcing housing inequality: homeownership and investment trends in Buenos Aires and Santiago de Chile

This article investigates the relationship between construction activity, property concentration, and homeownership in Buenos Aires City and Santiago de Chile Metropolitan Area, two Latin American capitals with distinct housing finance systems and investor landscapes. Despite institutional differences, both cities exhibit parallel declines in homeownership, especially among low-income and younger households, indicating a broader trend of housing inequality linked to financialisation. By analysing the spatial distribution of construction and demographic change, the article identifies how increased investor activity reshapes housing tenure, concentrating property ownership and marginalising non-owners. In investor-driven markets, housing becomes less affordable as prices detach from household incomes, turning real estate into a wealth accumulation or preservation vehicle rather than shelter provision. The study challenges the notion that increasing housing supply inherently improves access, showing that construction instead often aligns with investor interests rather than population needs. Methodologically, the article offers a novel approach to examining property concentration in opaque markets. Ultimately, the article demonstrates that housing inequalities are increasingly shaped by the logic of asset-based social reproduction and spatial investment patterns, contributing to intergenerational inequality and precarious urban conditions. These findings are relevant for understanding housing financialisation beyond the Global North.