Housing microfinance and the financialisation of housing in Latin America and beyond: an agenda for future research

Monika Grubbauer

International Journal of Housing Policy, 2019, vol. 19, issue 3, 436-447

Abstract: This paper critically examines housing microfinance in Latin America and beyond in the context of ongoing debates about the financialisation of housing. The focus in these debates has been on the de- and re-regulation of mortgage markets, increases in mortgage securitisation and shifts in ownership structures. My argument is that in the international debates about the linkages between housing and finance the issue of housing microfinance tends to be overlooked. The term housing microfinance refers to small value, non-mortgage loans for purposes of home improvement, renovation and incremental building. Mainstream approaches in development policy see housing microfinance as a crucial strategy to help provide adequate shelter and respect the needs of the urban poor. However, the past 15 years have also seen the emergence and diversification of structured financial products for global institutional investment in microfinance, with housing microfinance being viewed as a potential growth market by the global finance, construction and retail sectors. The paper provides an overview of the ways in which the markets for housing microfinance are currently expanded in different countries in the region and globally. The review concludes by outlining key avenues for future research.

Date: 2019
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/19491247.2018.1448155 (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:taf:intjhp:v:19:y:2019:i:3:p:436-447

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.tandfonline.com/pricing/journal/REUJ20

DOI: 10.1080/19491247.2018.1448155

Access Statistics for this article

International Journal of Housing Policy is currently edited by Professor Suzanne Fitzpatrick, Gerard van Bortel and Richard Ronald

More articles in International Journal of Housing Policy from Taylor & Francis Journals
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Chris Longhurst ().