The Unassuming Economist

The IMF’s latest report on Spain says that:

• “House prices have started to recover, but are still well below pre-crisis levels.”

• “UK citizens are also the main foreign buyers of houses, but their purchases declined in 2016.”

On cross-country:

• Finance and housing in Central and Eastern Europe – a demand-side approach – National Bank of Romania
• Affordable housing key for development and social equality, UN says on World Habitat Day – UN
• Quarterly Review of European Mortgage Markets Q2 2017 – European Covered Bond Council
• Hypostat 2017 – European Covered Bond Council
• Ownership rates in Europe – European Covered Bond Council
• Capital flows into European real estate are ‘developing not cooling’ – PropertyEU

On the US:

• The 2017 National Rental Housing Landscape – NYU Furman Center
• July 2017 Market Report: Almost Half of U.S. Homes Are Worth More Now Than Before the Bubble – Zillow
• 15 Favorites From Zillow Group Report on Consumer Housing Trends Report 2017 – Zillow
• A More Timely House Price Index – The Review of Economics and Statistics
• The real cause of the America’s housing bubble was foreign money – Financial Times
• The Negative (and Positive) Spillovers of Concentrated Foreclosure Activity in New York City – Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies
• Overregulation Is the Main Block to Affordable Housing – Wall Street Journal
• Why Fall Should Be Hunting Season for Starter Home Buyers – Trulia
• Land-Use Regulations, Property Values, and Rents: Decomposing the Effects of the California Coastal Act – Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia
• Housing as a Safety Net – Urban Land Institute
• Housing as an Asset Class – Urban Land Institute

On other countries:

• [Canada] A novel approach to affordable housing in Canada – CMHC
• [Canada] Too Many Bedrooms, Not Enough Housing? – University of B.C.
• [China] China steps up battle against runaway property prices – Financial Times
• [Germany] Assessing Recent House Price Developments in Germany: An Overview – Monetary Policy, Financial Crises, and the Macroeconomy
• [Ireland] Irish House Price Report Q3 2017 – Daft.ie
• [Israel] A Housing Plunge Doesn’t Concern Israel’s Top Economic Adviser – Bloomberg
• [Macau] Macau’s amazing, incredible, soaring property prices – Global Property Guide
• [United Kingdom] Rent control could deepen the housing crisis in UK’s most expensive cities – Centre for Cities
• [United Kingdom] Britain’s Housing Crunch – Bloomberg

Photo by Aliis Sinisalu

On cross-country:

• Will house prices continue to rise forever? – ING
• Q2 2017: Europe’s boom continues, but sharp slowdown in the Middle East, Latin America, New Zealand and some parts of Asia – Global Property Guide
• Chinese Money Is Still Leaking Into the World’s Housing Markets – Bloomberg
• UBS Global Real Estate Bubble Index – UBS

On the US:

• Anti-vagrancy laws are not the best way to reduce homelessness – Economist
• Flood Risk Belief Heterogeneity and Coastal Home Price Dynamics: Going Under Water? – NBER
• Apartment Demand for the Next 15 Years: Can We Meet the Need? – U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
• 2017 Global Real Estate Portal Report – Mike DelPrete
• Pending Home Sales Dive: Economists Miss the Boat by Over 2 Percentage Points! – MishTalk
• Land Use Regulation and Good Intentions – Journal of Land Use & Environmental Law

On other countries:

• [Canada] 2017 Housing Finance Symposium – CMHC
• [China] Chinese property developers’ shares hit by new house sales curbs – Financial Times
• [China] Chinese Developers Plunge After Officials Tighten Housing Curbs – Bloomberg
• [France] Housing Europe expresses concern about the housing strategy presented by the French government – Housing Europe
• [Sweden] House price responses to a national property tax reform – SSRN
• [United Kingdom] Priced Out? The affordability crisis in London – The Progressive Policy Think Tank
• [United States] Policy changes make landlords wary of the UK housing market – Global Property Guide

On cross-country:

• Property markets and real estate companies – Bank for International Settlements
• Global crisis of affordable urban housing – where are the progressive responses? – Foundation for European Progressive Studies
• A Caribbean New Urban Agenda post-Habitat III: Closing the gaps – Habitat International

On the US:

• The Economic Implications of Housing Supply – NBER
• Access to Long-Term Care After a Wealth Shock: Evidence from the Housing Bubble and Burst – NBER
• Foreign Buyers and Home-Price Growth – HousingViews
• Is Homeownership Dead? – House Canary
• Why Houston Housing Is Poised to Get More Expensive and Unequal – Citylab
• California Today: A Political Push for Affordable Housing – New York Times
• 2017 National Rental Housing Landscape – NYU Furman Center
• Housing Finance, Affordability, and Supply in the Digital Age – Urban Institute

On other countries:

• [Belize] Belize’s thriving luxury property market – Global Property Guide
• [Canada] Vancouver: No Fixed Address – Documentary
• [China] China central bank backs mortgage rate hikes in capital – Reuters
• [China] China’s Campaign to Cool House Prices Could Ease as Curbs Bite – Bloomberg
• [China] China’s Dangerous House Price Boom Is Spreading – Bloomberg
• [China] Rural-Urban Migration, Structural Transformation, and Housing Markets in China – NBER
• [China] One-third of China households see home prices rising in fourth-quarter: central bank survey – Reuters
• [Denmark] The Financial Crisis and Diverging House Prices: Evidence from the Copenhagen Metropolitan Area – Tinbergen Institute
• [Egypt] Egypt’s moneyed classes are buying houses like there’s no tomorrow! – Global Property Guide
• [France] France’s housing market is gaining momentum, amidst improving economy – Global Property Guide
• [Ireland] Ireland’s ‘bad bank’ set for new role as property developer – Financial Times
• [Israel] Israel’s decade-long house price boom could be over, as government cooling measures intensify – Global Property Guide
• [Laos] Laos is in the midst of a construction boom – Global Property Guide
• [Oman] Low crude oil prices hurting Oman’s property market – Global Property Guide
• [Taiwan] Taiwan’s housing market is gaining momentum – Global Property Guide
• [United Kingdom] Political uncertainty dampens the UK’s property market – Global Property Guide

Photo by Aliis Sinisalu

The IMF’s new report on Portugal says that: “After a prolonged slump, construction began to pick up in late 2016, boosted by the renovation of rental properties to meet tourist demand and nonresident purchases of residential real estate, including in Lisbon and Porto. House prices have increased by 15 percent in cumulative terms over the past two years through end-March, and now exceed the previous peak recorded prior to the crisis in 2010.  (…) New lending has instead been concentrated primarily in mortgages and consumer loans, helping to sustain the strong growth in private consumption and rise in housing prices.”