Opinion- Investment in the Housing Market
This blog is an opinion of a speech given by Leilani Farha. While I do disagree with her claims, I deeply respect her and her ideas. This blog's purpose is solely to state an opinion.
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In her statement to the United Nations, Canadian lawyer Leilani Farha states: “Housing has been financialized: valued as a commodity rather than a human dwelling.” Such an idea, that ‘housing has become a commodity rather than a right,’ is a rash and not a holistic claim to make. She argues that housing has become a tradable asset rather than a place to call home. The housing market has been monetized, but what has not? Investment exists in nearly all sectors; so why should housing create an exception to this pattern? The housing market does not require reform due to the causes of the issues said to have been connected to the housing market by Farah, the economic benefits it has created, and the solution that Farah states would cause.
Farah states that a huge problem that the housing market faces is its inequality. With more investors buying houses they do not use, the average house price becomes higher, and thus makes buying houses harder for middle-class and poor families. Farah views this as unfair; she views housing as not an 'investment' but rather a right not to be traded. She states that the cost of housing is “...no longer commensurate with household income levels.” She claims this issue is directly related to investment in housing. However, investments are not the issue in this instance. According to the Supplemental Poverty Measure: 2023 to 2024, published by the US Census Bureau, there has been zero change in poverty at the time. One can imagine that at the time of the speech in 2017, poverty was much worse. Farah then uses the example of India, explaining that a nation containing a population of 1.3 billion people (2017) “58.6 million households do not have access to adequate housing.” This means resources such as water and electricity are not adequate. India suffers from both overpopulation and poverty. Overpopulation can cause the exhaustion of resources and eventually lead to inadequate conditions. It would be incorrect to blame housing investment for the issues that are seen today in the housing market.
While the market as a whole may have seen its ups and downs, namely during the 2008 Housing Crisis in the United States, it would be wrong to say that the system is entirely broken. Farha states that the real estate business globally “represents ~60%...or $217 trillion.” At a glance, this number may seem huge, but one must remember that one of the first assets anyone must own is a piece of real estate. The market has to be large because a growing population calls for it. Even with all the houses available in the world, there is not enough for every person. In a report published by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics in 2024, real figures on the benefits of the real estate market can be viewed. As a labor market, real estate has created 523,200 jobs with a median pay of $58,960. The real estate job market is expected to grow by 3% by 2034, similar to the average. These figures include jobs/money from rental and leased properties. Why is this important? With more employed people, the economy grows. The only way both the housing market and the job market can be demonetized is if job-related activities are shut down and, as Farha suggests, the market is controlled by the government. This leads to huge problems.
As a solution to this issue, Farha suggests that it would be beneficial for the state to heavily regulate housing investment. She claims that it would not be enough to allow housing investment to exist “ only to the requirement that private actors....avoid explicit violations of human rights.” She suggests instead that regulations put in place by the State “ must regulate, direct and engage with private market and financial actors.” While the housing market does need to be regulated, it already is. Systems like the Securities and Exchange Commission and regulations such as the Dodd-Frank Act achieve this. To regulate private investors more would be to remove the idea of ‘private’ and install ‘government investors’(retoricly). Further, as a possible solution to the issue in the specific case of India, she suggests “it is essential to curb rising prices due to speculation in real estate markets.” Curbing prices in such a market would essentially be fixing them, leading to once again government-controlled housing. If given enough time, this could potentially lead to issues such as the beginnings of a socialist government in extreme cases.
In fact, I would highly encourage owning real estate and investing in the housing market. While I am not close to a professional, I view it as good for others and yourself. By owning a house, you can rent it out. This allows people who may not be able to afford full ownership to rent. Further, as an investor, it would be amazing to diversify your assets across sectors; this accounts for market crashes and for housing. On a final note, removing such a huge market from investors could be catastrophic for the economy, in the end causing even more damage than what Farha claims there is.
I have immense respect for all the people stated in this article. I just decided to share my thoughts on this issue. I am not a professional on this issue nor advise a
“Usual Weekly Earnings Of Wage and Salary Workers First Quarter 2024.” US Bureau of Statistics, Modified 16 Apr. 2024, https://www.bls.gov/news.release/archives/wkyeng_04162024.pdf
“Real Estate Brokers and Sales Agents.” US Bureau of Statistics, Modified 28 Aug, 2025, https://www.bls.gov/ooh/sales/real-estate-brokers-and-sales-agents.htm#tab-1.
A. Shrider, Emily, and Christina Bijou. “Poverty in the United States: 2024.” US Census Bureau, Modified 1 Sept, 2025, https://www2.census.gov/library/publications/2025/demo/p60-287.pdf.
Waghmare, Abhishek. “The World Bank's estimates of poverty in India.” Data For India, Modified 19 Dec. 2025, https://www.dataforindia.com/world-bank-poverty/
“Statement by the Special Rapporteur on the right to adequate housing, Leilani Farha, during the Interactive Dialogue at the Human Rights Council.” United Nations, Modified 1 March 2017, https://www.ohchr.org/en/statements-and-speeches/2017/03/statement-special-rapporteur-right-adequate-housing-leilani-farha?LangID=E&NewsID=21264.
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