The Unassuming Economist

Conferences

• SI 2022 Real Estate – NBER
• SI 2022 Urban Economics – NBER

On cross-country:

• Eurozone mortgage rate rises threaten house price growth. Borrowing expected to become more expensive in coming months as European Central Bank increases rates – FT
• The global housing boom is running out of steam. Where are prices going to fall most sharply? – The Economist
• Housing Boom and Headline Inflation: Insights from Machine Learning – IMF
• Era of soaring house prices is ending as central banks raise rates. Policies are tightening when major economies are either falling into recession or heading that way – The Guardian
• Will Increasing Housing Supply Reduce Urban Inequality? – International Regional Science Review
• Adapting to flood risk: Evidence from global cities – VoxEU

On the US:    

• The Understated ‘Housing Shortage’ in the United States – Institute of Labor Economics
• The Upside-Down Housing Market. What Happens After Mortgage Rates Hit A 13-Year High? – Apricitas Economics
• Home Sellers Cut Prices as Housing Market Cools. How higher mortgage rates—and frustration—are changing the playbook for sellers – Wall Street Journal
• Why Rising Mortgage Rates Don’t Mean Falling Home Prices – Barron’s
• Should DC’s Empty Office Buildings Get Turned Into Apartments? It’s clear workers will never return in full force. Developers and local officials see an opportunity. – Washingtonian
• A College Town Takes On Exclusionary Zoning. Gainesville, Florida, could be on the verge of eliminating single-family housing requirements. – Bloomberg
• Median vs Repeat Sales Index House Prices – Calculated Risk
• What Is the Future of Public Housing in America’s Cities? – AEI 
• Apartment Rents Begin Tapering Off After Record Growth. Rents are still rising at a historically fast pace but market shows signs of softening – Wall Street Journal
• What’s Ahead for the Housing Market – Goldman Sachs
• Buyers’ Expectations of Housing Availability Improve – NAHB
• A Town’s Housing Crisis Exposes a ‘House of Cards’. In the Idaho resort area of Sun Valley, there are so few housing options that many workers are resorting to garages, campers and tents. – New York Times
• Private Residential Spending Declines in June – NAHB
• The Mix of Home Buyers Is Changing, Leading to Improved Affordability – NAHB
• The Cross-Section of Housing Returns – Cleveland Fed
• New housing market data reveals a stunning shift as these 21 of the top 50 metro areas show price declines for June – AEI
• Banks Report Unchanged Home Lending Standards – NAHB

On China:

• ‘Financial monsters’: China’s bad banks complicate property crisis. Distressed asset management companies highlight the challenge Beijing faces in mobilising rescue options – FT
• Sweeping Mortgage Boycott Changes the Face of Dissent in China. Angry homebuyers have launched one of the most effective protests the country has ever seen. – Bloomberg
• China Home Sales Plunge in July, as Mortgage Revolt Deters Buyers. Sales fell on the year and from the previous month, ending a budding recovery – Wall Street Journal
• China’s Home Sales Slump Further During Mortgage Boycotts. Top 100 developers saw sales tumble almost 40% in July. Industry confidence remains at a low level, CRIC says – Bloomberg
• China Banks May Face $350 Billion in Losses From Property Crisis. Mortgage boycotts and slowing growth are rattling authorities. Pressure seen growing on China’s $56 trillion banking system – Bloomberg  
• How China can overcome its property crisis – OMFIF
• Chinese banks can withstand mortgage boycott if property prices hold – S&P Global

On other countries:  

• [Australia] From boom to gloom, Australia’s red hot property market hits reverse – Reuters
• [Australia] Will the house price collapse be different this time? A puzzling feature of the latest house price slump is that prices for top-end properties, which are usually most vulnerable to housing market corrections, are showing surprising resilience. – Financial Review
• [Austria] Austria Real Estate Market Analysis 2022 – Global Property Guide
• [Hong Kong] ‘Historic’ Hong Kong home prices: worst yet to come, with up to 30 per cent slump a possibility as market enters decline. – South China Morning Post
• [Hong Kong] Will sharp rises in interest rates diminish Hong Kong’s love affair with property? – South China Morning Post
• [New Zealand] New Zealand House Prices Sink Most Since Global Financial Crisis. CoreLogic data show biggest three-month decline since 2008. Buyer demand curbed by soaring mortgage interest rates – Bloomberg
• [Poland] Poland’s mortgage holiday for households threatens bank profits. Lenders warn moratorium will hit earnings and could result in legal action against government – FT
• [South Korea] S. Korea’s home prices to fall up to 2.8% with 100 bp rate hike – c.bank report – Reuters
• [United Kingdom] UK’s Mortgage Market Feels the Heat From Rising Rates. NatWest reports slower mortgage growth in second quarter. Lloyds predicts house prices will finally fall in coming year – Bloomberg
• [United Kingdom] The Guardian view on housing costs: a grave and growing injustice. Levelling up will be impossible as long as rents and house prices are allowed to keep on climbing – The Guardian
• [United Kingdom] Interest rates are rising – so why are mortgage rules being scrapped? Analysis: Bank ruling that borrowers don’t have to show they can afford steep repayment hikes raises questions over how to curb excessive borrowing – The Guardian
• [United Kingdom] Who took out mortgage payment holidays during the pandemic? – Bank of England
• [United Kingdom] UK house prices rise at 11% annual rate despite cost of living crisis. Strong labour market and limited housing stock push up prices as mortgage transactions cool – FT