SECURITIZATION OF HOUSING AND FINANCIALIZATION OF THE CITY IN BRAZIL

Abstract

With the promulgation of the Real Estate Finance System (REFS) in 1997, the sociotechnical mechanisms needed to develop real estate securitization in Brazil started to be created, particularly the Certificates of Real Estate Receivables (RERCs). Their use, dissemination, and main agents are analyzed in this text, searching for a deeper understanding of the connections between real estate and finance in Brazil. Thus, the objectives of this work are on the one hand to analyze the trajectory and specificities of the financialization process of housing in particular and cities in Brazil and to understand the RERCs' contribution to the expansion and intensification of housing financialization processes on the other. The analysis focuses, in a critical perspective, on two specific agents presenting their shares on the securitization market: the Caixa Econômica Federal (CEF), the largest supplier of credit for housing in Brazil, and MRV Engenharia S/A, one of the largest Brazilian construction companies and real estate developers. The transformations emerging from their actions have resulted in the creation of a unique financialization and securitization model, which involves the expansion of the process to cities of different sizes and residential properties of different values and the strong presence of the State, sharply underscoring residential real estate financialization trends and the production of urban space in Brazil.

Keywords:
Securitization; Financialization; Housing; Brazil