The Unassuming Economist

On cross-country:

• BIS residential property price statistics, Q1 2024. The fall in global house prices moderated further in the first quarter of 2024, at 1.0% year on year (yoy) in aggregate and in real terms. In more than half of the economies, real prices were already increasing compared with the same period one year earlier, showing high heterogeneity. – BIS
• South Korea, Australia show rate cuts are no cure-all for property markets. The two nations provide a cautionary tale of the limits of monetary policy when other factors also influence the outlook for residential property – South China Morning Post

Working papers and conferences:

• Understanding Spatial House Price Dynamics in a Housing Boom – CESifo
• Wildfires and Real Estate Values in California – San Francisco Fed
• Rents, home values depressed in air pollution hotspots – Dallas Fed
• Property Tax Policy and Housing Affordability – SSRN
• Did Brexiteers Get What They Voted for? Evidence from the Housing Market – SSRN
• Hot Property. The Amplifying Effects of Housing Costs on Regional Inequality – SSRN
• Housing Tenure, Consumption and Household Debt: Life-Cycle Dynamics During a Housing Bust in Spain – SSRN
• The Aggregate and Distributional Implications of Credit Shocks on Housing and Rental Markets – SSRN  

On the US—developments on house prices, rent, permits and mortgage:    

• What Determines Home Prices? Hint: it’s (mostly) not supply – Home Economics
• US house prices fall on monthly basis in June – Reuters
• Home Price Gains Continue to Slow – NAHB 
• U.S. House Prices Rise 5.7 Percent over the Last Year; Up 0.9 Percent from the First Quarter of 2024 – FHFA
• U.S. Accuses RealPage of Illegally Coordinating Rent Prices. Suit alleges the real-estate software company stifles competition through its algorithm – Wall Street Journal
• Surprise Lift for New Home Sales in July – NAHB
• New home sales jump in July; Buyers take advantage of lower rates – Realtor.com
• New York City Rental Report: Rents Continue to Increase in July 2024 – Realtor.com
• Homes Sales Are Down, So Why No Recession? – CoreLogic
• Single-Family Build Time Continues to Trend Upward for 2023 – NAHB
• Apartment Completions Rising – NAHB
• Reforms Spur Faster Housing Approvals in California. A state law removed hurdles, creating a more predictable process for homebuilding – Pew
• Mortgage rates keep falling. But homebuyers still aren’t biting. Rates are dropping and inventory is up. But for many, prices are still too high – Quartz
• Home Mortgage Lending Rebounds Nationwide with Across the Board Gains in Second Quarter of 2024 – ATTOM
• Homeowners with low mortgage rates are seeing the ‘lock-in effect’ fade. Here’s what that means. Americans are slowly starting to let go of their pandemic-era mortgages – Quartz
• Does a Construction Cartel Explain Rising Rents? – American Institute for Economic Research

On the US—other developments:    

• Housing Is the Sleeper Issue of the 2024 Campaign. Harris promises to double down on Biden policies that have made it more expensive to buy a home. – Wall Street Journal
• Harris puts housing at center of economic pitch to US voters – Reuters
• Kamala Harris puts housing on the agenda – Politico
• Kamala Harris’ Affordability Agenda Is a Good Idea Backed by Terrible Policies. Americans need a politician dedicated to unwinding decades of government interventions that have driven up the cost of middle-class living. – Reason
• YIMBYs’ Premature Victory Dance at the DNC. Kamala Harris’ promise to end the housing shortage and adopt rent control shows that YIMBY ideas are just one of several competing housing policy agendas within the Democratic Party. – Reason
• ‘America is not a museum’: Why Democrats are going big on housing despite the risks. Vice President Kamala Harris is trying to flip the script and own an issue impacting large swaths of Americans. – Politico
• Housing crisis and working-class focus drive DNC momentum – Axios
• Plan Beats No Plan – New York Times
• Soaring Insurance Costs Could ‘End’ Affordable Housing, Developers Warn. Developers and landlords of subsidized housing, who cannot raise rents or charge more for starter homes, say property insurance increases could put them out of business. – New York Times  
• Florida’s top affordable housing issues. The Sunshine State has seen an increase in new businesses and population in recent years, which puts more pressure on affordable housing. Learn how developers are addressing the housing crisis. – JP Morgan
• Real Estate Realities: Current Perspectives on the Housing Market – St. Louis Fed
• Where the housing market shift is—and isn’t—happening. The current softening in the housing market is concentrated by region. Here’s where home prices have moved the most. – Fast Company
• The Week in Review. Week of Aug 19 — Sales surge – Home Economics
• Why Philadelphia Is Bucking a Nationwide Surge in Evictions. Diversion program requires landlords to go through out-of-court negotiations before they can remove tenants. – Wall Street Journal
• Finally, America’s housing market is starting to loosen up. But it’ll be a bumpy road back – CNN
• The ADU lovefest is just getting started. Could the popularity of ADUs lead to something more? – The New Urban Order
• Housing affordability in America is finally improving. Not so much in these cities – CNN
• Trends in Housing Affordability: Who Can Currently Afford to Buy a Home? – National Association of Realtors
• The Private-Equity Scion Buying Up America’s Trophy Homes. Daren Metropoulos has spent roughly 18 years building a property portfolio worth about $326 million – Wall Street Journal

On China:

• China Vows to Quicken Buying Unsold Homes for Public Housing. Part of latest effort to end the nation’s property slump. Will also step up renting and selling of public housing units – Bloomberg
• To restore consumer confidence, China must save the property sector. Instead of squandering billions buying unsold properties, Beijing should learn from the US response to the global financial crisis – South China Morning Post
• Protests in China on the Rise Amid Housing Crisis, Slowing Economy. Dissent cases rise 18% in the second quarter of 2024: CDM. Four-decade rise in living standards shows signs of stalling – Bloomberg

On Australia and New Zealand

• [Australia] Housing market overview – Sept Qtr. 2024 – Matusik Missive
• [Australia] Australia caps international student numbers amid discontent over housing. Education minister says enrolments to be limited to 270,000 in 2025 in bid to create ‘a better and a fairer system’. – Al Jazeera
• [Australia] Car park wins out over affordable housing despite shortfall of 6,000 homes across inner Melbourne. Open-air car parking a ‘poor use of prime real estate in the inner city’, councillor says – The Guardian
• [Australia] Canada and Australia bet on housing and lost – Macrobusiness 
• [New Zealand] Is housing market rebound waiting to happen? – RNZ

On other countries:  

• [Argentina] Argentina Residential Real Estate Market Analysis 2024 – Global Property Guide
• [Canada] Canada Frees Up Public Lands to Tackle Housing Shortage – Bloomberg
• [Canada] Ottawa unveils five federal properties for affordable housing development – The Globe and Mail
• [Germany] Rebound in German home prices around the corner, analysts say: Reuters poll – Reuters
• [Hong Kong] Betting on Chinese demand, Hong Kong developers turn to rental market – Reuters
• [Hong Kong] Hong Kong’s July used-home price index drops to 8-year low amid tepid property market. Hong Kong’s housing industry is mired in a slump, as a huge stock of new homes combines with borrowing costs at a 23-year high – South China Morning Post
• [Netherlands] How Rent Controls Are Deepening the Dutch Housing Crisis. A law designed to make homes more affordable ended up aggravating an apartment shortage. – Bloomberg
• [Portugal] Lisbon’s Housing Market Is Unstoppable, Golden Visa or Not. Tweaks to the program haven’t halted interest from international buyers, who have boosted home prices in Portugal’s capital city – Wall Street Journal
• [South Africa] South Africa Weighs Tightening Bank-Disclosure Laws on Mortgages. High rejection rate for loan applications worrying: minister. Banks cited poor affordability, housing department says – Bloomberg
• [Sweden] Sweden’s SBB sees improving property market as losses shrink – Reuters
• [Turkey] Turkey Residential Real Estate Market Analysis 2024 – Global Property Guide
• [United Kingdom] London landlords leave the market in increasing numbers. Buy-to-let property sales are on the rise – FT
• [United Kingdom] First-time buyers made up 48% of house hunters in London this year, data shows. Proportion was biggest since at least 2010 as cheaper mortgage deals slowed exodus from city, says estate agent – The Guardian

Working papers and conferences:

• NAR Settlement, House Prices, and Consumer Welfare – NBER
• Affordable Housing, Unaffordable Credit? Concentration and High-Cost Lending for Manufactured Homes – SSRN
• From Boom to Bust: Probabilities of Turning Points in House Prices – SSRN 

On the US—developments on house prices, rent, permits and mortgage:    

• U.S. Economic, Housing and Mortgage Market Outlook – August 2024 | Spotlight: Refinance Trends – Freddie Mac
• Home Sales Remain Subdued as Labor Market and Inflation Continue to Cool – Fannie Mae
• MBA: Mortgage Delinquencies Increased in Q2 2024 – Calculated Risk
• Single-Family Starts Weak in July – NAHB
• Housing Starts: Single Family Down Year-15% over-year in July; Multi-Family Down 18% YoY – Calculated Risk 
• New Residential Construction Slides in July; Multi-Family Projects Lead Decline – Realtor.com
• The Typical U.S. Housing Payment Has Fallen to Lowest Level in 6 Months. That Has Led to More Buyer Interest, But Not More Sales – Redfin
• Best Quarter for Custom Home Building in Almost Two Years – NAHB
• Lawler: Early Read on Existing Home Sales in July and 3rd Look at Local Housing Markets – Calculated Risk
• Here Comes Kamala’s Mortgage Forgiveness. Her plan to make housing more ‘affordable’ via subsidies will raise prices and create moral hazard. – Wall Street Journal
• Existing Home Sales Rose 0.6% Last Month, But Were At the Lowest July Level on Record – Redfin
• Solid Levels of Single-Family Built-for-Rent Construction – NAHB
• The audacious goal of building 10,000 affordable homes in California’s Coachella Valley – Brookings
• Governors are building more homes. Here’s how Congress can help – The Hill 
• Lawler: Rent Trends at Invitation Homes and American Homes 4 Rent (AMH) – Calculated Risk
• 10 Places Where Lower Mortgage Rates Will ‘Unlock’ the Housing Market the Fastest – Realtor.com
• US Home-Purchase Applications Slide to Lowest Since February – Bloomberg  
• Housing market map: Zillow’s 2025 home price forecast for more than 400 markets. Zillow thinks national home price growth is amid a sharp deceleration. – Fast Company
• Homebuilders have had the upper hand in the housing market. Lower rates may change that. – Yahoo Finance

On the US—other developments:    

• Harris has the right idea on housing. It has to be managed as both a consumer good and as an asset class. – Noahpinion
• Harris’s housing plans: Key takeaways – Yahoo Finance
• Harris to Call for Expanded Child Tax Credit, 3 Million New Housing Units. Democratic nominee to address thorny economic issue by calling for more construction, tax incentives – Wall Street Journal
• Harris’s economic plan: grocery prices, housing credits and tax rises. Populist measures designed to win over US voters are less welcome to business and economists – FT
• Why Harris’s housing plan won’t work. Kamala Harris can’t count on adding 3 million houses to the market by 2028. – Washington Post
• Letter: VP’s offer to first-time buyers risks fuelling the housing crisis – FT
• Kamala Harris’ welcome housing boost is overdue – Reuters
• Kamala Harris’ ‘Build, Baby, Build’ Convention. Housing supply hasn’t been a front-burner issue in presidential politics for decades. That changed this week in Chicago. – Politico
• The Harris-Walz Campaign’s Housing Agenda Is Subpar – Jacobin   
• Rep. Maxwell Frost stresses housing as priority for young voters – Axios
• The Share of Million-Dollar Homes in America Just Hit an All-Time High. Nearly 1 in 10 properties have an estimated value of $1 million or more, an ‘entry point’ for some markets – Wall Street Journal
• Cutting Fees. Going It Alone. New Rules Are Changing How We Buy and Sell Homes. Buyers can now determine what their agents are paid under new rules being rolled out across the U.S. – Wall Street Journal
• Why is New York City Shrinking? Who is leaving, and where are they going? – Home Economics
• Our Carrie Bradshaw index: where Americans can afford to live solo in 2024. Compared with last year, rent on basic apartments looks more affordable – The Economist
• Best Quarter for Custom Home Building in Almost Two Years – NAHB
• Lowe’s Cuts Guidance on Soft DIY Spending, Housing Market. Consumers are pulling back on spending for big ticket projects. Retailer said it is making inroads with professional customers – Bloomberg  
• Flat Conditions for Single-Family Home Size – NAHB
• California’s decade-long effort to legalize ADUs offers lessons for other US states and regions – Brookings

On China:

• China’s $70bn property rescue plan limps off starting line. Banks have disbursed only a fraction of the scheme’s target lending to buy up unsold housing – FT

On other countries:  

• [Australia] Melbourne mayor backs converting offices into apartments in bid to boost housing supply. Support for idea comes as Victorian government unveils plan to fast-track planning approvals in 10 hubs across city – The Guardian
• [Canada] Canada real estate: Housing affordability improves as income required to buy a home fall – Yahoo Finance
• [Hong Kong] Are young Hongkongers choosing to pursue public rental flats over their dreams? Officials caution against ‘lying flat’, but young people point to severe shortage of housing choices – South China Morning Post
• [Hong Kong] Hong Kong’s homebuyers would rather forfeit their deposits than pay above-market prices. The 308 cases in the first half of the year have already exceeded last year’s total of 261, according to data from Centaline – South China Morning Post
• [Israel] Israel Residential Real Estate Market Analysis 2024 – Global Property Guide
• [Japan] Japan Residential Real Estate Market Analysis 2024 – Global Property Guide
• [Korea] Koreans Expect Hotter Home Prices With Central Bank Set to Meet – Bloomberg
• [Korea] Bank of Korea Holds Rate Steady to Rein in Housing Market Meet – Bloomberg
• [Singapore] Latest property cooling measure will dampen demand in the short term, say analysts – The Straits Times
• [Singapore] Singapore Adds Public Housing Curbs to Boost Affordability. Loan-to-value limit lowered to 75% for public housing. Public housing deals at or above S$1 million reached 419 in 1H – Bloomberg
• [United Kingdom] To Solve Its Housing Crisis, Britain Turns to an Old Idea: New Towns. By reviving an idea from the 1940s, the Labour Party government is hoping to overcome the development hurdles that have plagued previous efforts with a plan to build new communities. – New York Times
• [United Kingdom] Interest rate cut fuels immediate upturn in UK property market. Figures from Rightmove show inquiries to estate agents since 1 August up 19% compared with a year ago – The Guardian
• [United Kingdom] When will UK rental inflation slow down? It might be soon — but that would leave tenants on a painful plateau – FT

On cross-country:

• Promoting Access to Affordable Housing in Emerging Markets – IFC
• Is Land-Use Regulation Holding Back Construction Productivity? – Construction Physics
• European Residential Update – Knight Frank

Working papers and conferences:

• Racial Housing Price Differentials and Neighborhood Segregation – NBER
• A tale of tier 3 cities – Journal of International Economics
• Credit Supply, Prices, and Non-price Mechanisms in the Mortgage Market – San Francisco Fed
• House Prices and Monetary Policy: Tearing down the wall in Germany? – SSRN
• Housing-Consumption Channel of Mortgage Demand – SSRN
• Entrepreneurs, Collateral Channel, and the House Price Volatility Puzzle – SSRN  

On the US—developments on house prices, rent, permits and mortgage:    

• US Mortgage Rates Tumble to 6.55% in Biggest Drop in Two Years. 30-year rate slides 27 basis points to lowest since May 2023. Drop spurs pickup in applications to refinance, buy a home – Bloomberg
• US Mortgage Refinancing Surges by Most Since 2020 on Lower Rates. MBA gauge jumped 34.5% to a more than two-year high last week. Mortgage applications for home purchases rose more modest 2.8% – Bloomberg
• Why Falling Mortgage Rates Aren’t a Quick Fix for Frustrated Homebuyers. Record home prices and renewed fears of a recession complicate hopes for housing market recovery – Wall Street Journal
• How Gen Z Co-Purchasing Is Changing the Borrower Landscape. The real estate market is transforming as Generation Z become homebuyers and turn to house hacking – CoreLogic
• Biggest shakeup in a century set to hit real estate agents this week: Here’s how they’re preparing – CNN
• So Much About Real-Estate Commissions Just Changed. Here’s What to Know. The changes come after the National Association of Realtors reached a landmark legal settlement earlier this year – Wall Street Journal
• 2nd Look at Local Housing Markets in July. Early Reports Suggest Possible New Cycle Low for NAR reported Sales in July – Calculated Risk
• Part 1: Current State of the Housing Market; Overview for mid-August 2024 – Calculated Risk
• Part 2: Current State of the Housing Market; Overview for mid-August 2024 – Calculated Risk
• Single-Family Permit Increase Moderates in June 2024 – NAHB
• National Housing & Economic Forecast 2024 Midyear Update: Long-Awaited Mortgage Rate Relief Finally Arrives – Realtor.com
• Our Midyear Real Estate Forecast Reveals Major Change for Homebuyers—Here’s What’s in Store – Realtor.com
• Experts Predict What the Real Estate Market Will Look Like Once Mortgage Rates Drop – Realtor.com
• To cap or not to cap? – Politico

On the US—other developments:    

• FACT SHEET: Biden-⁠Harris Administration Takes New Actions to Lower Housing Costs by Cutting Red Tape to Build More Housing – The White House
• Biden Invests $100 Million to Fuel Housing Construction. The White House is expanding low-cost financing, easing regulations and incentivizing local reforms in a wide-ranging effort to increase housing supply. – Bloomberg
• How the U.S. might outgrow pandemic-era housing (un)affordability problems – Dallas Fed
• Home Ownership Affordability Monitor – Atlanta Fed
• Boomers Buying Houses Had It Bad in the ’80s. Millennials Have It Worse. The housing affordability index shows whether the typical family… – Wall Street Journal
• Housing Is a Top Concern for Voters. Why Not for the Candidates? Americans want more affordable housing. Politicians from both parties could offer better solutions. – Bloomberg
• The Fed Is Too Late to Save the Housing Market This Year. A decline in mortgage rates at the tail end of buying season is unlikely to meaningfully boost transactions or industries that depend on them. – Bloomberg
• ‘Sitting empty’: Vast expanse of federal land eyed for new housing. “Imagine having a county where over 90 percent of the land can’t have housing … all because it’s federally managed,” said Rep. John Curtis. – Politico
• Why the housing market is ‘challenged’ right now: Zillow CEO – Yahoo Finance
• Most Popular Markets People Are Moving To – Realtor.com
• Building Material Price Growth Tracking Closely to 2023 – NAHB
• Why did Detroit and New Orleans’s post-disaster recoveries diverge? Can NOLA recapture the kind of forward momentum that Detroit now has? – The New Urban Order
• Is this the best housing bill on the East Coast? A look at the new Massachusetts housing package – The New Urban Order
• Housing and Inflation, July 2024 – Erdmann Housing Tracker

On China:

• China Evergrande’s liquidators ask investors to join restructuring process – Reuters
• China’s Home Price Slump Eases After Government Rescue Efforts – Bloomberg

On other countries:  

• [Canada] Canada’s Housing Bust Pits Real Estate Coaches Against Students. A new class of educators promised to help small-time investors use property to build their personal wealth. Now, a backlash is brewing. – Bloomberg
• [Hong Kong] Hong Kong’s economic recovery hinges on having enough adequate housing. Housing and town planning reforms will raise social mobility, promote Hong Kong as an international talent hub and bring back our dynamism – South China Morning Post
• [Luxembourg] Luxembourg Residential Real Estate Market Analysis 2024 – Global Property Guide
• [Norway] Norway Residential Real Estate Market Analysis 2024 – Global Property Guide
• [Singapore] Singapore Home Sales Recover in July With More Developer Supply. Real estate firms in the city-state sold 571 units last month. July is typically a strong season after school holiday – Bloomberg
• [United Kingdom] Would building 1.5m homes bring down British house prices?
• Answer: Not by much – The Economist
• [United Kingdom] UK Homebuilder Stocks Extend Rally on Mortgage Rate Optimism. Softer-than-expected inflation fuels borrowing cost hopes. Sector has recovered about half of rate-hike cycle losses – Bloomberg
• [United Kingdom] London House Prices Post First Annual Rise in More Than a Year. Dip in mortgage rates improved confidence of home buyers. Economists say BOE rate cuts will boost momentum in the autumn – Bloomberg

On cross-country:

• Housing costs: a final hurdle in the last mile of disinflation? – BIS
• Savills Prime Residential Index: World Cities – H1 2024. Which cities have seen price growth in the first six months of the year? Are rents still outperforming capital values? And what do we expect to see for the remainder of 2024? – Savills

Working papers and conferences:

• Household Mobility and Mortgage Rate Lock – NBER
• Global urban structural growth shows a profound shift from spreading out to building up – nature
• Mortgage Lock‑In Spurs Recent HELOC Demand – New York Fed
• Where to Build Affordable Housing? Evaluating the Tradeoffs of Location – SSRN

On the US—developments on house prices, rent, permits and mortgage:    

• US Home Price Insights – August 2024 – CoreLogic
• Private Residential Construction Spending Falls for Second Straight Month – NAHB
• US construction spending extends decline in June – Reuters 
• Asking Rents Mostly Unchanged Year-over-year – Calculated Risk
• Kamala Harris’s recent embrace of rent control, explained. Capping rent increases makes voters excited, but economists wary. – Vox
• Renters Struggle with Competing Costs of Food, Energy, and Housing – Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies
• Here’s What’s About to Change for People Buying and Selling Homes – Time
• Why some homeowners are leaving their low mortgage rates behind – Axios
• Residential Building Wages See Fastest Growth in More Than Five Years – NAHB
• Mortgage rates dropped to their lowest level in more than a year. The decline spurred a surge in refinancing applications – Quartz
• Small Decrease in Mortgage Activity for July – NAHB
• Mortgage Applications Increase in Latest MBA Weekly Survey – Mortgage Bankers Association
• ICE Mortgage Monitor: Existing Home Inventory Surges in Florida and Texas – Calculated Risk
• How Much will the Fannie & Freddie Conforming Loan Limit Change for 2025? – Calculated Risk
• Federal Home Loan Banks Face Amped-Up Pressure From Biden Administration, Senators – Bloomberg
• 1st Look at Local Housing Markets in July. Early Reports Suggest New Cycle Low for NAR reported Sales in July – Calculated Risk
• Stock Market Turbulence Could Trip Up Home Sales—and These Cities Could Get Hit First – Realtor.com
• These Cities Have More Housing Stock Than Before the Pandemic – Realtor.com

On the US—other developments:    

• Home Sizes: Demand versus Supply – NAHB
• A $1 Trillion Time Bomb Is Ticking in the Housing Market. Millions of US homes are underinsured because their premiums don’t reflect the risk of climate-fueled catastrophes. – Bloomberg
• Homes to Stay Unaffordable Whatever the Fed Does, Survey Shows. Among the greatest threats to personal finances are resurgent inflation and the presidential race. – Bloomberg
• Harris Says She Rescued California Homeowners Hurt by the Financial Crisis. The Reality Is More Complex. Banks met half of their mortgage-relief obligations in the state by writing off loans on homes that were already abandoned, WSJ analysis shows – Wall Street Journal
• The Mechanics of Changing American Mortgages. If it’s too difficult to change how all these different government agencies currently regulate mortgages, here are 2 alternatives. – Real Estate Decoded
• Priced out of housing, many younger disillusioned voters embrace populism. The scarcity of affordable homes to buy or rent has raised enthusiasm for politicians campaigning against immigration — though other causes for the crunch abound. – Politico
• July 2024 Monthly Housing Market Trends Report – Realtor.com
• 76 Secrets of U.S. Home Ownership – Conclusion. Let’s make home ownership boring again. – Real Estate Decoded
• Worried About Extreme Weather? Check Out 12 Hidden Housing Markets With Low Climate Risks – Realtor.com
• What’s Happening in Louisville Could Solve a Housing Crisis – New York Times
• Frustration Evident in Consumer Housing Sentiment. Only 17% Say It’s a ‘Good Time’ to Buy, Despite Known Aspiration to Own – Fannie Mae
• What’s happened to real estate commissions since the big settlement – Axios

On China:

• China Rejects $1 Trillion Housing Rescue Plan Pitched by IMF. IMF recommends direct government financing of delayed projects. China cites worries over moral hazards, bail-out expectations – Bloomberg
• Country Garden Sales Drop 72% as China’s Housing Woes Persist – Bloomberg
• China Cities Rush to Lure Homebuyers With Sweeteners, Price Cuts. Guangzhou offers ‘quasi-Hukou’ to select property buyers. Multiple cities have removed price floor for developers – Bloomberg

On other countries:  

• [Australia] RBA hold decision unlikely to boost housing demand – CoreLogic
• [Austria] Vienna’s social housing, lauded by progressives, pushes out the poor. The city’s most hard-up rely on the private sector – The Economist
• [Canada] Toronto Home Prices Climb for Second Month Even as Sales Slow. New property listings slipped slightly in July from June. Transactions dropped 1.7% as buyers await further rate cuts – Bloomberg
• [Canada] Is Singapore’s housing model a realistic solution for Canada’s affordability woes? – Bloomberg
• [Canada] Are Airbnb rentals eating up Calgary’s housing market? No, says StatCan report. The number of short-term rentals in Calgary is well below the national average, according to the federal agency – Calgary Herald
• [Costa Rica] Costa Rica’s Residential Property Market Analysis 2024 – Global Property Guide
• [Estonia] Estonia Residential Real Estate Market Analysis 2024 – Global Property Guide
• [Germany] German Property Prices Record First Quarterly Rise in Two Years. Index shows increases across all residential segments. Kiel Institute says turnaround in real estate market has begun – Bloomberg
• [Singapore] Calm down, Singapore’s housing market is not about to collapse. Evidence points to a slowdown in Singapore’s residential property market, but a normalisation of activity is being misconstrued as a crisis – South China Morning Post
• [Spain] The Sydney suburbs BBVA Research: la presión de la demanda impulsará el precio de la vivienda en 2024 y 2025 en España. – BBVA
• [United Kingdom] Owners of flats struggle to step up housing ladder. Stagnating prices have made it hard to build equity, research reveals – FT
• [United Kingdom] UK House Prices Rise the Most Since January, Halifax Says. Figures chime with Nationwide data showing increasing prices. Prices rose most in Northern Ireland and by 1.2% in London – Bloomberg
• [United Kingdom] There Are Tentative Signs of a UK House Price Recovery. As always, what happens next will depend on the cost of mortgages. – Bloomberg

On cross-country:

• Southern Europe’s Prime Property Prices Are Booming, Study Shows. Lisbon, Madrid, Athens home values rising more than elsewhere. Prime rental market growing rapidly, outstripping sales growth – Bloomberg

Working papers and conferences:

• Call for Papers: 16th Real Estate Markets and Capital Markets (ReCapNet) Conference KTH Stockholm 28-29 October 2024 – ReCapNet
• How the Source of Financing Discrimination Affects Housing Opportunities for FHA Buyers – SSRN
• Rent Control from Ancient Rome to Paris Commune: The Factors Behind its Introduction – SSRN
• Do Inclusionary Zoning Policies Affect Local Housing Markets? An Empirical Study in the United States – SSRN

On the US—developments on house prices, rent, permits and mortgage:    

• Who Is Driving Rental Demand? Hint: It’s Not Millennials Anymore. A recent report found that the youngest — and oldest — American adults are sustaining the demand for rental homes. – New York Times
• Memo to Biden & Harris: Rent Controls Will Make Our Housing Crisis Worse – Newsweek
• Case-Shiller: National House Price Index Up 5.9% year-over-year in May. FHFA House Price Index Unchanged in May, up 5.7% YoY – Calculated Risk and Reuters
• Home Price Gains Moderate for Third Straight Month – NAHB
• US CoreLogic S&P Case-Shiller Index Growth Slows Again, Up 5.9% Annually in May – CoreLogic
• Freddie Mac House Price Index Increased Slightly in June; Up 5.1% Year-over-year. Over the last 3 months, the seasonal adjusted index has increased at a 0.8% annual rate – Calculated Risk
• Inflation Adjusted House Prices 1.9% Below 2022 Peak. Price-to-rent index is 7.6% below 2022 peak – Calculated Risk
• The housing market is shifting—here’s where it’s happening. These three interactive maps show where home prices are starting to show signs of softening. – Fast Company
• US Home Sales Fell in June To Slowest Pace Since December Amid Rising Mortgage Rates, Home Prices –The Associated Press – NAR
• Secret #74 – 6-Months of Inventory of Houses for Sale is a Lot More Than It Used to Be – Real Estate Decoded
• Top 10 U.S. Housing Markets with Highest Priced Homes in Q2 2024 – ATTOM
• The Week in Review. Week of July 22 – Home Sales Slump – Home Economics
• The price of housing in the US, 1890-2006. The data suggest that both owned and rental housing prices increased more over the 20th century than previously thought, and also that overall inflation over the period may have been underestimated. – VoxEU  
• High Rates Have Been Good for One Corner of the Mortgage Industry. Now What? Mortgage servicers have benefited in multiple ways from higher rates and a slow housing market – Wall Street Journal
• Sellers are ‘losing their grip’ on the housing market as home prices cool, research firm says – Business Insider
• Mortgage Applications Decrease in Latest MBA Weekly Survey – Mortgage Bankers Association
• Approval timelines really matter for housing – Marginal Revolution
• Solution #2 – Redesign U.S. Mortgages to Maximize Home Ownership Instead of Home Sales. Not Easy But Effective – Real Estate Decoded
• 86% of Outstanding Mortgage Debt has a Sub-6% Rate – Realtor.com

On the US—other developments:    

• The Housing Market Isn’t Making Sense. What’s Going On. – Barron’s
• The Summer 2024 Wall Street Journal/Realtor.com Housing Market Ranking – Realtor.com
• How Do We Solve America’s Affordable Housing Crisis? BU Research Helps Inspire a Federal Bill That Suggests Answers. Legislation could curtail ability of strict local zoning regulations and outspoken “not in my backyard” residents to block multifamily housing – Boston University
• A starter home costs $1 million or more in 237 U.S. cities. California, New York, and New Jersey are home to the most cities where starter homes have a seven-digit price tag – Quartz
• Secret #73 – Did the Internet Make the Real Estate Market LESS Rational! – Real Estate Decoded
• America’s Top Housing Market Is in the Heartland—With Homes Below $200K in Hot Demand – Realtor.com
• Some of America’s Poorest States Have the Highest Homeownership—the Seeming Contradiction, Explained – Realtor.com
• 5 New Narratives About the Housing Market. It’s a post-post-pandemic market – The New Urban Order
• Final Look at Local Housing Markets in June and a Look Ahead to July Sales – Calculated Risk
• The Forgotten Solution to the Housing Crunch – AEI
• Secret #76 – A Huge Property Tax Loophole for Land Speculators – Real Estate Decoded
• Fannie and Freddie: Single Family Serious Delinquency Rate Mostly Unchanged in June, Multi-family Increased – Calculated Risk
• Mapped: The Fastest Growing Housing Markets in the U.S. – Visual Capitalist
• 3 Solutions – U.S. Home Ownership – Real Estate Decoded
• Homeownership Rate Remains at 65.6% in Q2 2024 – Realtor.com
• Homeownership among lowest-income households climbs near all-time high. That growth outpaces increases in homeownership among higher-income households – Philadelphia Fed
• Lowest Homeownership Rate for Younger Householders in Four Years – NAHB
• Land-Use Reforms and Housing Costs: Does Allowing for Increased Density Lead to
• Greater Affordability? – Urban Studies
• Reducing Housing Burdens While Creating a Longer-Term Affordable Housing Solution – Center for American Progress
• Solution #1 – One Tax Code for Single-Family Homes and Condos – Eliminate All Landlord-Only Tax Breaks. By Far the Easiest, Cheapest and Most Effective Solution – Real Estate Decoded
• Homeowner Equity Turns Back Upward Across U.S. in Second Quarter of 2024 as Home Values Surge – ATTOM

On China:

• China releases five-year action plan for new people-centered urbanization – The State Council

On other countries:  

• [Australia] The Sydney suburbs where house prices soared most over the past year – The Sydney Morning Herald
• [Canada] Britain is planning a housing revolution – Canada should take note – The Globe and Mail
• [Canada] Statscan study: Converting Airbnbs won’t make dent in housing crisis – The Globe and Mail
• [Canada] Short-term rentals in the Canadian housing market – Statistics Canada
• [Colombia] Colombia Residential Real Estate Market Analysis 2024 – Global Property Guide
• [Cyprus] Cyprus’s Residential Property Market Analysis 2024 – Global Property Guide
• [Hong Kong] Hong Kong’s 2024 property slump feels like it’s 1997 all over again – or is it? The housing supply pipeline may grow to 112,000 homes over the next three to four years, according to the forecast by the Housing Bureau at the end of March – South China Morning Post
• [Hong Kong] Why Hong Kong’s property market isn’t all doom and gloom. Hong Kong’s real estate sector has endured a series of shocks, yet it is far more resilient than dire reports of its state might suggest – South China Morning Post
• [Hong Kong] Affordable homes will give Hong Kong youth the chance to soar, not lie flat, housing chief says. Housing secretary says boost in home ownership through increased number of affordable flats will be a significant incentive for the young – South China Morning Post 
• [Hong Kong] Hong Kong Pre-Owned Property Prices Hit Eight-Year Low – Caixin
• [Hungary] Hungary’s Residential Property Market Analysis 2024 – Global Property Guide
• [Morocco] Morocco Residential Real Estate Market Analysis 2024 – Global Property Guide
• [New Zealand] New Zealand Residential Real Estate Market Analysis 2024 – Global Property Guide
• [Spain] Barcelona wants to get rid of short-term rental units. Will other tourist destinations do the same? – AP
• [United Kingdom] Britain’s property hotspots enjoying 20pc house price rises. Growing property fortunes reveal a narrowing North-South divide – The Telegraph
• [United Kingdom] UK Mortgage Approvals Steady In Sign of Stable Housing Market – Bloomberg
• [United Kingdom] Does Taxing Second-Home Owners Ever Make Sense? Tourist hotspots in the UK are increasingly raising council tax on non-residents. Will it help or hurt? – Bloomberg
• [United Kingdom] UK house prices expected to rise over second half of year, says Zoopla. Larger number of homes for sale will help push up prices by 2%, says property portal – The Guardian