Chile: subsidies, credit and housing deficit

This article has two objectives: to analyse the effects of the housing subsidy on
access to credit and on real-estate investment; and to study the influence of those
relations in the Chilean experience. Following a review of the financing and subsidy
systems in Chile, a theoretical model is put forward to analyse the effect of subsidies
on housing credit and on the equilibrium of the real-estate market. The model offers
new perspectives on the role played by subsidies policy and the structure on which
the empirical research is based. The econometric analysis corroborates the two main
theoretical proposals, namely: access to the subsidy increases a family's chances
of obtaining credit and reduces the number of families living in a housing-deficit
situation. The econometric results also help to interpret the trend of the housing
deficit in Chile.