Mercado del suelo urbano y reserva financiera de terrenos para producción de vivienda en el Área Metropolitana de Santiago

Abstract

The urban land in Chile has been transformed into an investment tool and even a financial asset. The present work provides evidence on the high participation of financial institutions in Santiago Metropolitan Area’s land market, between 2010 and 2015. Also, through a descriptive statistical work and a systematization of agents involved in the real estate development of houses, is detected that banks and insurers are key agents in the formation of land reserves. These institutions normally operate under land lease instruments, which provide liquidity to real estate companies and / or anticipate acquisitions for medi-um and long term housing projects. This work concludes by discussing the effects of this financial practice on the price and availability of affordable land, contributing to a critical reflection on the social exclusionary character of the urban land market.