The Unassuming Economist

On cross-country:

• Commission proposes new measures to address poverty and the housing crisis – European Commission

Working papers and conferences:

• Measuring Renters in Credit Data: Evidence from Linked Survey and Administrative Data – FED
• China’s real estate reckoning: Lessons from Japan’s lost decade – VoxEU

On Australia and New Zealand:

• [Australia] Short-stay Street: in some parts of Sydney, Airbnb guests outnumber residents – The Guardian
• [Australia] Australian Treasurer to Tackle ‘Unacceptable’ Housing Market – Bloomberg
• [Australia] Australia Tackles Property Tax Breaks, Disappoints on Deficit – Bloomberg – The Guardian
• [Australia] Australia dumps tax breaks for landlords to help young own a home – Reuters
• [Australia] Australia’s tax reforms expected to knock some heat out of housing market – Reuters
• [Australia] Spooked investors could see house prices sink after big budget changes – Sydney Morning Herald
• [Australia] Young voters, property investors react to Australian government’s tax changes – Reuters

On other countries:  

• [Canada] Building the workforce needed to deliver more homes in Halifax – Government of Canada
• [Canada] Canadian Home Sales Edge Up as Spring Market Attracts Buyers – Bloomberg
• [Ireland] Irish house price growth slows to lowest rate in more than two years. Residential property prices rose by 6.5% in the 12 months to March, down from the 6.7% in the year to February – The Irish Times
• [Korea] Seoul Apartment Price Gains Pick Up Pace, Adding Pressure on BOK – Bloomberg
• [Malta] Malta’s Residential Property Market Analysis 2026 – Global Property Guide
• [Taiwan] Taiwan’s Residential Property Market Analysis 2026 – Global Property Guide
• [Tanzania] How architecture can save lives. Carefully designed homes in Tanzania have been shown to lower disease rates among children – FT
• [United Arab Emirates] Dubai’s Real Estate Market Gets a Vote of Confidence. “We understand the risks and benefits in the region better than others,” a top Brookfield executive said. – Bloomberg
• [United Arab Emirates] UAE Residential Property Price Report 2026 March – REIDIN
• [United Kingdom] UK housing market slows as Iran war hits demand, Halifax data shows – Reuters
• [United Kingdom] UK housebuilders scale back as Iran war and interest rates mute demand. Cuts to earnings guidance and land purchases cast doubt on whether government will meet 1.5mn new homes target – FT
• [United Kingdom] Mortgage refixing, longer lags and eggs – FT
• [United Kingdom] UK estate agents at gloomiest in two years amid Iran turmoil. Middle East conflict’s economic impact is hurting the housing market – FT

On prices, rent, and mortgage:    

• Mortgage Applications Retreats Further in April – NAHB
• May ICE Mortgage Monitor: “Annual home price growth was 0.9% in April” – Calculated Risk

On sales, permits, starts, and supply:     

• Big U.S. housing starts slide offers growth warning – Reuters
• 2nd Look at Local Housing Markets in April – Calculated Risk
• Spring Housing Market Faces Crossroads With ‘Make or Break’ Trend in New Listings – Realtor.com
• Residential Building Worker Wages Remain Soft in Early 2026 Amid Slower Housing Activity – NAHB
• NAR: Existing-Home Sales Increased Slightly to 4.02 million SAAR in April. Median House Prices Increased 0.9% Year-over-Year – Calculated Risk
• Existing Home Sales Edged Up Slightly in April – NAHB
• New-Construction Insights: Urban New Builds Are Scarce and Expensive – Realtor.com
• Housing Market’s Spring Is Shaping Up as a Bust After April Sales Were Flat. Existing-home sales edged up 0.2%, well below economist expectations and extending the industry’s long slump – Wall Street Journal
• Residential Construction Input Prices Move Higher In April – NAHB
• The spring housing market is off to a bad start. Sales of existing homes rose just 0.2% in April to a 4.02 million annual rate, far below analysts’ expectations of more than 3% growth – Quartz

On other developments:    

• April 2026 Hottest Housing Markets – Realtor.com
• Mapped: Where Housing Takes the Biggest Share of Income – Visual Capitalist
• Mapped: Where Young Americans Still Own Homes – Visual Capitalist
• How Measurement Choices Shape the Housing Debate—and the Charts in the President’s Economic Report – Cato Institute
• Twin Cities region misses its housing marks. For the first time since a set of housing affordability goals were established in 2022, the Twin Cities region failed on all three measures – Minneapolis Fed
• Wichita Is a Rare Mecca of Affordability for America’s New Middle Class. Duplex boom is attracting middle-income earners to the Midwestern city – Wall Street Journal
• Roosevelt Institute Expands Housing Policy Work with Residency. Applications open for emerging leaders generating bold policy ideas to expand housing supply – Roosevelt Institute
• The Return for These Investors Isn’t Money. It’s More Affordable Housing. – Seattle Times  
• Trump calls on Congress to pass Senate’s housing bill. The president had previously stayed out of a cross-chamber dispute over housing affordability legislation. – Politico
• ‘We’ve been pretty straightforward’: White House draws a line on housing bill. The White House is mounting pressure on the House to pass the Senate’s housing bill as-is, but the lower chamber is bucking the directive for now. – Politico
• House Republicans press ahead on reworking Senate housing package. GOP lawmakers are continuing to work on an embattled housing bill, even after the president said he wants the Senate’s version passed. – Politico
• Rising Housing Costs Keep First-Time Buyers on the Sidelines. The effects of the war in Iran have raised mortgage rates and lowered consumer confidence, making it even harder for house hunters. – New York Times 
• Is It Too Expensive to Sell a House? Millions of Americans are holding onto empty homes, fearing the tax hit a sale would bring. – New York Times
• Rising Housing Costs Keep First-Time Buyers on the Sidelines. The effects of the war in Iran have raised mortgage rates and lowered consumer confidence, making it even harder for house hunters. – New York Times
• Best U.S. cities for first-time homebuyers in 2026, ranked by affordability. First-time buyers in the U.S. now close at the oldest age on record. Realtor.com ranked communities to find the 10 best markets for 2026 – Quartz
• San Francisco’s Luxury Housing Boom Is a Warning – Bloomberg
• Rent Is Swallowing Household Incomes. Plus, how politicians are pitching affordability. – New York Times

On cross-country:

• Where Luxury Housing Prices Surged the Most in 2025 – Visual Capitalist

Working papers and conferences:

• Filling the Gaps with MICE: Addressing Missing Data in Real Estate Price Indices – NBER
• Characteristics of a Sufficient Statistic to Measure City Housing Prices – NBER
• Rental Prices and the Cost of Living in the United States, 1914–2006 – NBER
• Does Real Estate Expansion Hurt Manufacturing Employment: Evidence from China – Labour Economics

On Australia and New Zealand:

• [Australia] Australia’s home price growth hits lowest in over a year, led by falls in big cities – Reuters
• [New Zealand] New Zealand House Prices Lack Momentum as Buyers Sidelined – Bloomberg
• [New Zealand] New Zealand house prices lack momentum as buyers sidelined. While they rose for a third straight month in April, the increase was just 0.1% from March: property consultancy – The Business Times

On other countries:  

• [Canada] A New Blueprint: How Modern Methods of Construction can help solve Canada’s housing crisis – RBC
• [Canada] Montreal-area home sales fall 7% in April as rising prices weigh on demand: board – CMT
• [Canada] Millennials in the Canadian housing market: An intergenerational comparison – Government of Canada
• [Estonia] How will Estonia’s declining population affect the property market? – ERR
• [Hong Kong] Hong Kong Property Shares Rally as Morgan Stanley Feeds Optimism – Bloomberg
• [United Kingdom] UK house price rise defies economic impact of Iran war. Unexpected increase in April supported by relative strength in household finances – FT
• [United Kingdom] UK House Prices Rose Again in April, Nationwide Says – Bloomberg
• [United Kingdom] ‘Blue urbanism’ — a key to England’s housing undersupply? Canal-side developments in east London, Bristol, Liverpool and elsewhere are helping to meet building targets — but it’s not all smooth waters – FT

On prices, rent, and mortgage:    

• We Can Return to 20-Year Mortgages. Instead of Lowering Mortgage Rates, Shorten Mortgage LENGTHS. – Real Estate Decoded
• Investors Are Piling Into Flint’s Dilapidated Housing Market. Michigan city’s home prices rose 28% in the first quarter, making it the biggest mover in this year’s WSJ/Realtor Housing Market Rankings – Wall Street Journal
• Will New York Freeze the Rent? A Panel Will Cast Its First Vote. The panel that regulates rents for nearly one million apartments is set to weigh in on potential increases for the first time since Mayor Zohran Mamdani took office. – New York Times

On sales, permits, starts, and supply:    

• Federal Threats on the Horizon Are Killing Housing Supply Growth Now – Cato Institute
• Why developers can’t afford to build affordable housing. Building more affordable housing means first addressing the labor problem causing it. – Washington Post
• A Federal Housing Handout Has Ended. Foreclosures Will Follow. A Biden-era program that prevented distressed borrowers from losing their homes has been rolled back – Wall Street Journal
• April 2026 Monthly Housing Report: Spring Market Weathers Economic Uncertainty – Realtor.com
• NAHB Debuts New Resource that Estimates Quarterly Remodeling Spending by State – NAHB
• Remodeling Growth to Slow Sharply in Early 2027 – Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies
• New Home Sales Increase to 682,000 Annual Rate in March. Median New Home Price is Down 16% from the Peak due to Change in Mix – Calculated Risk
• New Home Sales Rise, Supported by Limited Existing Inventory – NAHB
• 1st Look at Local Housing Markets in April – Calculated Risk
• New-Construction Insights: Urban New Builds Are Scarce and Expensive – Realtor.com

On other developments:    

• High Housing Costs Are Pushing Foreclosures to a Six-Year High. Homes with foreclosure filings jump 26% in first quarter, partly reflecting rising property taxes and insurance premiums – Wall Street Journal
• Spring Housing Market Remains Resilient Despite Economic Clouds – Realtor.com
• The Return for These Investors Isn’t Money, It’s More Affordable Housing. Local governments are trying to create housing that is permanently affordable by investing directly in construction. They are rewriting how housing programs have traditionally operated. – New York Times
• Trump privately raises objection to Senate housing bill. The president’s concerns could complicate passage of the largest housing measure taken up by Congress in years. – Politico
• The Homebuyer Vibe: Record 55% Say Their Finances Are Getting Worse. The Other 45% Don’t Check. – Housing Notes  
• The Affordable Housing Hiding in Plain Sight. Smaller, older homes are plentiful in many parts of the US. But the financing system that helps people buy or refurbish these fixer-uppers has broken down. – Bloomberg
• The Spring Housing Market Has a Vibes Problem as ‘Fear of Overpaying’ Takes Hold – Realtor.com  
• Timing of housing bill action in the House remains uncertain. House GOP leadership continues to work through the amended text of a bill aiming to increase housing supply and homeownership. – Politico
• The Congressional Progressive Caucus Affordability Agenda Is a Dud. This populism means many simpler ideas to lower prices through expanding supply get ignored – Cato Institute  
• Home Equity Rates Continue to Decline in First Quarter – ATTOM

On cross-country:

• New Taxes Helped Cool London’s Housing Market. Could That Happen in New York? Economists and real estate agents are calling London’s taxation of wealthy property owners a cautionary tale for New York, where leaders have endorsed a second-home tax. – New York Times

Working papers and conferences:

• The Regional and Demographic Profile of Housing Affordability: Evidence from Greek Households – CEPR
• Housing Wealth Accumulation and Electoral Representation – University of California – San Diego
• Market Power in Mortgage Pricing: the Role of Referral Lending – NBER
• Price and Prejudice: Preferences and Incentives in the Dynamics of Racial Residential Segregation – CEPR
• Upgrading housing – the potential and limits of borrower-based measures – SUERF
• Housing Supply and Racial Integration: Evidence from Building Permits in U.S. Metropolitan Areas – OSF
• The Impact of the Comprehensive Real Estate Holding Tax on Asset Equity and the Housing Market – Journal of Housing Economics  

On Australia and New Zealand:

• [Australia] Why Australian property prices could go backwards by 2030 – The Sydney Morning Herald

On other countries:  

• [Canada] Canada’s deflating housing bubble stymies wealth effect of booming stock market – Reuters
• [Mexico] Mexico City seeks new rent controls. Shortage of affordable homes and protests over US immigrants prompt policy response – FT
• [United Kingdom] The Guardian view on help to buy: entrenching housing inequalities, rather than helping. The Tories’ flagship scheme has aided higher earners most. The latest analysis of its flaws should lead to a rethink – The Guardian
• [United Kingdom] New Taxes Helped Cool London’s Housing Market. Could That Happen in New York? Economists and real estate agents are calling London’s taxation of wealthy property owners a cautionary tale for New York, where leaders have endorsed a second-home tax. – New York Times
• [United Kingdom] The problem with falling house prices. Homes are too expensive in the UK, but a large correction would be bad for everyone — including first-time buyers – FT