The loans are going to Real Estate Investment trusts. The big banks are buying up real estate using tax dollars so that home ownership in the US turns to pure rentals. The price of Real Estate has skyrocketed not because people are buying, but because banks are buying. [Black Rock is using people retirement savings to make sure their children can't afford a house of their own.](https://strangesounds.org/2021/07/blackrock-is-buying-up-us-homes-like-no-tomorrow-real-estate-market-housing.html)

I bought right before it got crazy last year, and got a 2.5% interest rate. A friend of mine bought a house that's half the size and cost more this year.