I don't see that anyone is being exploited here. Pre-2008 in my area rents were far below the equivalent house payment because there were more people who wante

I don't see that anyone is being exploited here. Pre-2008 in my area rents were far below the equivalent house payment because there were more people who wanted to own property and rent it out than there were people who wanted to rent. In effect the renters were subsidized by buyers who were betting on rising home prices. Historically, in the US at least, as a land owner your appreciation tracks the CPI pretty closely. It will go out of whack for a few years, but then there's a correction. I just can't buy into your exploiter-exploited mindset.