Political Backlash against Financialized Housing Markets

• In Event: Beyond Backlash: Political Reactions to Socio-Economic Transformations

Abstract

Cities worldwide are experiencing severe housing crises that generate inequality, economic hardship, and fear of displacement. Housing affordability and rising rents have triggered political demands for more public housing, rent controls, and even expropriation. A salient target of this backlash are institutional investors who have been buying up urban real estate and are seen as drivers of price hikes. We argue that this political backlash is not only about narrow economic self-interest such as rising rents and house prices; it reflects a fundamental rejection of “financialized capitalism” that turns housing as a shelter into a financial asset. To substantiate our argument, we first analyze the successful housing expropriation referendum held in Berlin in 2021 to examine how socio-economic and political characteristics of neighborhoods shape precinct-level referendum support. Second, we complement this analysis with original survey experimental data, demonstrating that discontent with financialized housing markets rather than mere price increases explains support for expropriation. Our findings imply that financialized capitalism can unify voters across traditional class and political cleavages and push them toward extreme policy demands.

Authors

• Andreas Wiedemann, Princeton University

• Rafaela Dancygier, Princeton University