Abstract

In Chile, new housing investment grows, although there is little knowledge about investors. This work analyzes nearly all housing purchases as investment between 2011 and 2016 in the Greater Santiago Area, based on public databases. We see the investors' predominant profile, comprising gender, social status, age, and investment preferences (price, size, and location of the unit bought). The profile obtained remind of the Chilean elite and upper-middle strata and shows a bias to male investors. For the analysis, we separate individual and firm investors, also small and large-scale (prime) investors (5 or more properties). The analysis covers the Santiago Metropolitan Area, focusing on three inner districts with the highest investment rate. Results converge with theoretical discussions about the expanding 'rentierism' in different global settings, namely ownership concentration and home prices increase, as the most significant effects.