Housing Crisis: Why Wall Street Keeps Homes Empty & Rents High

Wall Street, banks, and corporate landlords have found a way to make more money from empty homes than from housing people. That’s why your rent keeps going up while whole buildings sit dark.In this conversation, economist Clara Mattei and urbanist Miguel Robles-Durán unpack how the modern housing crisis is driven by the financialization of housing. They explain how banks, asset managers, and corporate landlords turned homes into collateral and global investment vehicles, why empty apartments can be more profitable than housing people, and why the usual answers like “just build more supply” do not fix a system that keeps rents high.• How changes in banking let investors use homes as collateral and build huge portfolios• Why vacancy, speculation, and ghost apartments are baked into the model• How this affects tenants, communities, and entire cities• Real alternatives, from cooperative housing and social rent to public and non speculative models that already exist in places like Mexico and UruguayIf you have ever wondered why your rent goes up while so many homes stay empty, this conversation opens up the bigger story behind the housing crisis.#affordablehousing #HousingCrisis #Rent #WallStreet #Financialization #housingjustice #Landlord #CooperativeHousing #PublicHousing #ClaraMattei #MiguelRoblesDuran #FREEForum