The 400 Year Cycle of Real Estate

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Written By: Sam Ely

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Real estate is the best way to make money. And the quickest way to lose money.

At least, that’s what they say.
In reality, the property industry has its ups and downs just like any other market but what
makes it stand out from the crowd is its longevity.
But it wasn’t always the case that you could buy and sell land.
Even before you could slap a price tag on it, the earth under your feet had political sway and
power which could affect the course of history.
So how did real estate go from being owned by elites to being owned by the public…and
elites?

For most of human history, the ground was just dirt and mud. Then someone got the idea to
build a straw hut and – hey presto – real estate was invented.
Or at least, our concept of real estate. The idea of private property took a while to form.
It took so long that humans learned to domestic dogs 800 or so years before permanent
structures were erected. Even before we’d conceptualised how to buy a home, we wanted a
pet to live with. [1]
We see someone building a straw hut. But then someone runs up, yanks a tree branch out

and throws it for a dog to fetch. The straw hut collapses.

But once we figured out how to stop stuff falling over, we were set on figuring out how to
integrate buildings into society.
The oldest known established city was Jericho, in 9000 BC. It’s fair to say any concept of
property laws would be part of their customs or laws, though archaeologists are confident
from their findings that early city states often had communal aspects to land resource
management. [2]
This suggests that humans first focus was on building homes, municipal areas, infrastructure
and, of course, palaces.
That’s because the king or queen or pharaoh or sultan or whoever was in charge owned
everything.
For most of human history, property rights have been firmly in the hands of the elite.
Take Ancient Greece.
Their concept of property rights was not universal.
Only free male adults could own or inherit land, which means women and slaves were out of
the game. They were also closely tied to citizenship or social status so if you think you’ll get
on the property ladder, spare a thought for the red tape Aristotle had to cut through.
But over in Rome, things were different.
There, property law was a significant part of the Roman legal system.
For their time, it was immensely sophisticated, and has even provided the backbone for a lot
of Western law. One monumental idea was to differentiate types of property. [3]
“Dominium” meant you owned the property and “possession” meant you owned a bit of it but
could own all of it one day if certain conditions were met.
So, in essence, these were the ancient world’s equivalent of a mortgage!
In Egypt, however, land ownership was stricter.
Only the Pharaoh or upper echelons of society could get a nice little place out by the Sphinx.
Things weren’t as comfortable for the masses. Any farmer toiling in a field they didn’t own,
or wasn’t owned by their boss, had to pay a fee for the luxury to work.
Dang. Even before property rights were universal, there were landlords and rent!
It would take some time before the value of land changed, but when it did the world was
never the same again.
It’s time to learn How History Works as we chronicle the history of real estate.

Sources:

1. https://www.intrepidpea.com/2019/02/timelineofhumans.html
2. https://www.thearchaeologist.org/blog/ancient-jericho-the-first-walled-city-in-history
3. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Roman-law/The-law-of-property-and-possession
4. https://www.history.com/news/10-things-you-may-not-know-about-william-the-
conqueror
5. https://www.worldhistory.org/Feudalism/
6. https://www.parliament.uk/about/living-
heritage/transformingsociety/towncountry/landscape/overview/enclosingland/
7. https://www.thelandmagazine.org.uk/articles/short-history-enclosure-britain
8. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/how-the-louisiana-purchase-changed-the-
world-79715124/
9. https://www.thoughtco.com/how-skyscrapers-became-possible-1991649
10. https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/mar/06/how-london-became-the-place-
to-be-for-putins-oligarchs
11. https://time.com/6140467/metaverse-real-estate/
12. https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/roblox-to-debut-ai-chatbot-allow-usd-
payments-on-creator-marketplace
13. https://www.bhg.com.au/nasa-moon-houses

Real estate is the best way to make money and  the quickest way to lose money at least that’s   what they say in reality the property industry has  its ups and downs just like any other Market but  

What makes it stand out from the crowd is its  longevity but it wasn’t always the case that   you could buy and sell land even before you could  slap a price tag on it the Earth under your feet  

Had political Sway and power which could affect  the course of history so how did Real Estate go   from being owned by Elites to being owned by the  public and Elites part one early foundations for  

Most of human history the ground was just dirt and  mud then someone got the idea to build a straw Hut   and hey Presto real estate was invented or at  least a state the idea of private property took  

A while to form it took so long that humans  learned to domesticate dogs 800 or so years   before permanent structures were erected even  before we conceptualized how to buy a home we   wanted a pet to live with but once we figured  out how to stop stuff falling over we were set  

On figuring out how to integrate buildings into  society the oldest known established city was   Jericho in 9000 BC it’s fair to say any concept  of property laws would be part of their Customs   or laws though archaeologists are confident from  their findings that early city states often had  

Communal aspects in land resource management  this suggests that humans first Focus was on   Building Homes Municipal areas infrastructure  and of course palaces that’s because the king or   queen or Pharaoh or Sultan or who whoever was in  charge owned everything for most of human history  

Property rights have been firmly in the hands of  the elite take ancient Greece their concept of   property rights was not Universal only free male  adults could own or inherit land which means women   and slaves were out of the game they were also  closely tied to citizenship or social status so  

If you think you’ll get on the property ladder  spara thought for the red tape Aristotle had to   cut through but over in Rome things were different  there property law was a significant part of the   Roman legal system for their time it was immensely  sophisticated and has even provided the backbone  

For a lot of Western Law one Monumental idea was  to differentiate types of property dominium meant   you owned the property and possession meant you  owned a bit of it but you could own all of it one   day if certain conditions were met so in essence  these were the ancient world’s equivalent of a  

Morgage in Egypt however land ownership was  stricter only the Pharaoh or upper echelons   of Society could get a nice little place out by  the Sphinx things weren’t as comfortable for the   masses any farmer toiling in a field they didn’t  own or wasn’t owned by their boss had to pay a fee  

For the luxury to work damn even before property  rights were Universal there were landlords and   rent it would take some time before the value of  land changed but when it did the world was never   the same again so it’s time to learn how history  works as we Chronicle the history of real estate  

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And anytime can consolation trade is making it  easier to discover better coffee part two common   ground and private property for the longest  time land was just where your home happened to   be the power you had ended as soon as you left  your village that changed in 1066 when William  

The Conqueror successfully overtook England  following his victory at the Battle of Hastings   once he kicked King heral off the throne he was  free to claim England as his own but installing   stability following the Normandy invasion required  a cunning move first he commissioned the Doomsday  

Book initially it was simply called The Book of  Winchester but by the 12th century it got its   ominous sounding name because the survey of land  ownership was seen to hold as much judgment as   the end times but this record was vital to the  Paradigm Shift which William the Conqueror was  

About to unleash he divied up the land and offered  it to his Norman allies so long as they swore fty   to him in essence land is gifted in exchange for  military supporter resources all the things a king  

Needs to keep his domain running smoothly in turn  those allies divied up their land to people below   them which created a hierarchy of ownership  with more tears and conditions that had ever   existed before as you can imagine this structure  changed Society irrevocably now was the time of  

The feudal system admittedly some forms of feudal  systems had existed before such as the Z dynasty   in China from 1046 to 256 BC land was also granted  in return for military however there are plenty of   differences with the European model for example  Le in Europe the power was centralized whereas in  

China the relationship between Nobles and peasants  were different thanks to confusion ideas of moral   obligations like welfare for others but at the  risk of going off topic the point is historians   agree that William the Conqueror was the first to  install real feudalism all thanks to his radical  

Approach to land ownership up until that moment  landowning was still an elite Pastime or at best   a sort of quidd proquote deal so although the  Chinese beta tested feudalism it was the new king   of England’s util ation of land’s power that the  concept of real estate started to evolve in the  

Centuries that followed other parts of the world  adopted the Stellar new form of governance like   Japan and the Middle East yet the land was not  owned in the sense that we understand it there   was no court for you to contest your rights  instead you more or less operated on a premise  

With a ruler if you got on their bad side you’d  be kicked out or executed after all real estate   is a Cutthroat business in the case of William the  Conqueror the king partialed land to the highest  

Lore who partial their land down to lesser Lords  and knights and so on and so on peasants who were   most of the population worked on lands owned by  their Lords in return for protection food and well  

That was pretty much it lives were spent toiling  in fields owned by someone else can you imagine   spending all your time and energy making money  for someone else only to die and have nothing   how times have changed speaking of Changing  Times the public eventually came to be able  

To own property that’s because after centuries of  the feudal system give or take a few refinements   to law a Revolution was coming that would open  up property to the masses part three trading   territories the enclosure acts in England were a  series of pivotal reforms that began in 1604 and  

Continued all the way into the 1900s it marked  the transition from Collective rights of land   ownership to individual rights of land ownership  you might be wondering why it took so long to put   real estate in the hands of every man if property  rights were already allocated to groups so it’s  

Worth remembering that throughout the Middle Ages  life was communal medieval Traditions kept things   rural you were born raised and eventually died on  the farm you grew up on in the remote Village your   family route started in however many decades  or centuries before there was no leaving the  

Hometown to find yourself that’s an individualist  world view anyone thinking that a surf might have   some innate worth on the same level as a Heavenly  appointed mardark was simply mad and frankly the   move to a society that viewed people as groups  rather than simply the king and everyone else  

Was a pretty radical idea that changed with the  enclosure axe before these AXS were passed land   was categorized into common and waste common was  under the control of a lord which gave him rights   for farming and grazing animals waste was for  parts of narrow land usually in awkward places  

Think of Cliff edges bare rock and inconveniently  shaped bord off Fields these sucky Lots weren’t   usually used by anyone so landless peasants farmed  on them but conceptualizing land like this was a   big step for Real Estate because it meant that  types of land had different value that’s why  

The enclosure legislation was ruled out over  the following centuries to make it easier to   understand which land was good for agriculture  productivity and consolidation by dividing and   redistributing common lands each Lord or Knight  could fence areas off it was during this time  

That people got specific about precisely what they  own it was no longer a vague I own all the grass   over there but more specific I own 28 square  miles of upand cominging real estate so what   gives why did people suddenly decide to take out  the measuring tape it’s because of the transition  

To the Agricultural Revolution as technology  slowly improved and populations expanded and   Empires Consolidated people started number  crunching in the same way that the Industrial   Revolution changed how we live so too did the  Agricultural Revolution upend our ancestors way  

Of life however there was a detrimental effect on  the poor the loss of rights to Common land caused   widespread displacement and poverty I guess this  was the Medieval version of gentrification but   instead of Condominiums and Starbucks it was a  fenced field with cows in it the KnockOn effect  

Was people moving to cities for work which spurred  on urbanization or banding together elsewhere so   though humans have more or less always congregated  around City walls or the countryside these huge   consequences put these forms of habitation into  overdrive in effect they created suburbs and towns  

Where before it had been cities and villages to us  modern folk and mega cities upgrading to a town or   suburb might not seem like a big deal but remember  that these effectively created two new types   of residencies the knock on effect was markets  replacing a Reliance on shared resources which  

Galvanized City growth but killed off hamlets and  settlements in these areas people could start to   live their own lives they started to have a say  over what they did what they produced what they   sold and what they bought yet these acts did more  than play the groundwork for our modern landscape  

It created a market for private property rights  now land was a commodity that could be bought or   sold like all other Goods part four closing the  deal with the emergence of a real estate market   post enclosure act England as well as other parts  of Europe built legal Frameworks to facilitate  

The owning buying and transferring of land through  the legal system protections included transparency   security and smoother administrative processes  everything a buyer or seller needs for confidence   over time the system evolved from a humble  registry to more comprehensive databases which   included details about a property’s ownership  history value and any other encumbrances bit by  

Bit data was being collected to Envision a real  estate market so that buyers and sellers could   become acquainted with rates that means rulers had  another way to measure their GDP now the stage was   set to fuel exploration set up colonies and trade  territories either for profit peace or both one of  

History’s biggest real estate deals was none  other than the Louisiana Purchase of 1803 to   cut a long story short Britain France and Spain  had been jockeying for a strategic slice of the   North American continent for quite some time  but shortly after the French monarchy helped  

British colonies gain independence the French  public got rid of the royal family eventually   the new country of America found itself in an  interesting position when Napoleon eventually   became the new ruler Napoleon didn’t care about  America’s friendship with the old France but he  

Cared about defeating the British once and for  all so in pursuit of funding an army to take   down the crown he sold off that price piece of  real estate for a bargain price of $15 million   by today’s standards some economists estimate  it to be around 2.2 trillion some people flip  

Houses Napoleon flips territories unfortunately  for Mr bonapart the deal was a bad idea because   he lost the war against the British anyway as  for the US the deal doubled their country’s   size and has more than made back its money and  as the world progressed further into the 19th  

Century and beyond the influence of real estate  continued to grow home ownership became such a   staple of Modern Life that current Generations  feel they are missing something if they don’t   have an asset like their folks of course their  parents had it easier buying a house because of  

The post-war home-owning booms and the emergence  of mortgage systems in America the federal housing   Administration and Federal National Mortgage  Association standardized an insured loans to   mitigate risks to lenders and buyers as painful as  having middlemen can be there’s no question that  

These IDE has revolutionized property rights even  more by the dawn of the 20th century the power of   real estate was understood on every level and by  level I also mean multi-story buildings because as   long as it took humans to conceptualize the value  of width of a plot of land they were relatively  

Quicker to calculate the value of its height  part five Sky High speculation skyscrapers are   commonplace because it’s cheaper to build up than  across no doubt our ancestors heads would explode   if they saw the Towering constru instuctions we  take for granted think about it ancient Greeks  

Were impressed by the height of the pantheon  the Romans were proud of the stature of the   Coliseum and medieval peasants were in all of  the luming cathedrals of Europe but nowadays   going higher than most of humankind ever did  is just part andar parcel of our way of life  

If you are on the fifth floor of an apartment  building or even if your home has stairs you   were at altitudes which seemed impossible to  the centuries of people before us of course   these daring buildings are the consequences of  a competitive real estate market before buying  

And selling was based around farming lands and  individual homes over the last few hundred years   emerged the concept of commercial space where real  estate is sold to businesses universities airports   and anything else you can think of no matter  what building you see it’s owned by someone  

Somewhere even those empty London high-rises are  purchased by a Russian oligarch living in Monaco   so as metropolises expand in every direction  and Commercial development of malls stadiums and   highways increased it was only a matter of time  until something went wrong now you don’t need me  

To tell you that housing markets have bubbles just  like any other industry and you don’t need me to   read off the name of those disasters choose any  decade country or continent and you’ll find the   Survivor stories of a bust just know that as  property rights have been refined with zoning  

Laws and protections for landlords and tenants so  too have investors gambled with the value of what   land could be speculation drives a lot of real  estate markets which means now people can buy   and sell land not on what it’s worth now but what  it could be worth in the future that leaves the  

Market susceptible to foreign influence and Market  fluctuations it’s a tragic indictment that in our   era it’s easier to get a home but also easier  to lose one but what’s even more astonishing is   what’s coming down the pipeline plenty of people  are speculating that the next property Revolution  

Is digital real estate not in the sense of domain  names though the act of buying up web address is   to sell later on does smack a flipping homes  but in the sense of where you could visit if   VR in the metaverse do eventually become more  viable expect to be taking out real mortgages  

For virtual land tempting as it may be to brush  off Mark Zuckerberg’s underwhelming computer   worlds Minecraft servers still sell for a hefty  price even Roblox has its own in-game economy   where digital users take digital products to  a digital Market to trade real money if that  

Sounds far-fetched consider how the threat of  net neutrality would alter our perception of   common internet usage in the same way that  the enclosure acts redefine land rights and   privileges for groups and individuals perhaps  in your lifetime virtual reality worlds will  

Get their own version of the Doomsday Book maybe  Amazon or we chat will do the internet equivalent   of the Louisiana Purchase or maybe this is all  a trend that will die off faster than Myspace   then again maybe the next Real Estate boom is in  colonizing moons and constructing space stations  

NASA is hoping to build lunar homes by 2040  surely the mortgage rates will be astronomical if   sticking a fence in a field altered the trajectory  of mankind who knows what’s in store for use when   we can coordin off sectors of interstellar space  one thing is for certain whether it’s offworld  

Or online there’s no commodity more capable of  changing Society than real estate which do you   think will happen first virtual reality land or  outer space property State your argument in the   comment section below real estate has built  empires in fact so much so that the world’s  

Oldest company is a real estate construction  conglomerate that has lasted over 1,000 in years   to find out how you can make a company to last  so long go and watch our video on the history   of Congo as always don’t forget to like And  subscribe to keep on learning how history works