Financialization of housing right in Turkey and case studies: People's Republic of China, Republic of South Africa, Mexico

This work examines the effect of neo-liberal policies on the financialization of housing in Turkey. Neo-liberal policies, which became dominant in the last quarter of the 20th century, made it possible for the free circulation of capital at the global level. This development has deeply affected the housing policies of the countries. After the 2001 crisis, Turkey realized its integration into the world economy through trade and capital flows. This has increased the entry of foreign capital into the country. Half of the foreign direct investments entering the country are directed to the finance and real estate sectors. During this period, there has been a significant growth in the construction industry. The growth has been supported by the marketization of housing finance. Moreover, the increase in construction activities was maintained as a stable state policy through TOKI. The institution reorganized the housing supply system to exclude informal structures. It also helped expand capital based on household borrowing by attracting low-income populations to the mortgage market with social housing. The production of social housing was financed by the proceeds from the sale of urban plots with high market value. All these developments have increased the interdependence of the construction and real estate sectors and the finance sector. In other words, the intervention of the state in the housing supply paved the way for the commodification of urban land and housing and created the appropriate conditions for financialization. The output of this process is the transformation of the house into an investment tool.