The value of your house is actually tied to how strong the U.S. dollar is, even if you’re living on the other side of the world.
SSRN · March 13, 2026 · 6305158
Why it matters
Because global banks rely on US dollar funding to issue mortgages, a stronger dollar forces these banks to tighten credit everywhere. This creates a 'global landlord' effect where house prices across different countries move in sync based on US currency fluctuations, regardless of local economic health.
From the abstract
<span>House prices co-move considerably across countries. We show how non-US global banks and their exposure to US dollar funding conditions help explain this comovement. When the dollar appreciates, mortgage lending and house prices decrease more in borrower countries whose non-US creditor banks are more exposed to dollar funding conditions. As US dollar funding conditions vary, borrowing country pairs with higher joint exposure to US dollar funding conditions via their non-US creditor banks ex