Housing is shelter, but it is also an asset class. All of it creates a paradigm in which housing supply is driven by the markets, rather than Main Street. That’s not to say that investors don’t have a role to play in the housing market. Private equity firms helped set a floor under the housing market in the wake of the Great Financial Crisis, for example. Policymakers also need a more systemic understanding of the housing market.

Source: The Irish Times November 18, 2025 01:30 UTC