New research from the McCombs School of Business identifies a novel factor in rising home prices: foreign investment. An influx of foreign money during the 2010s drove up housing costs in the areas with the greatest concentrations of purchasers from outside the U.S., finds Caitlin Gorback, assistant professor of finance.

But her findings have broader implications for affordability, she says. Even in markets where foreign investors weren’t plentiful, prices rose much faster than supply did from 2009 to 2018.

As the world faces a critical historical conjuncture marked by rising inequality, ecological disruption, and geopolitical fragmentation, the Political Ecology Network (POLLEN) will convene its biennial international conference in Barcelona, Spain, from June 29 to July 3, 2026, hosted across the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) and the University of Barcelona (UB). The event will bring together more than 1,500 researchers, activists, representatives of civil society organizations, and creators from across the globe to dissect contemporary crises and forge pathways toward peaceful, just alternatives.