Housing Economics

A historical analysis of the geopolitics of real estate with settler-colonialism on the one side and the rise of über-wealthy foreign real estate investors on the other. Individual foreign investment in Western nation states is a long-standing geopolitical issue. The expansion of the middle class in BRICS and Asian countries, and their increased activity in Western real estate markets as foreign investors, have introduced new and revived existing cultural and geopolitical sensitivities.In this book, Dallas Rogers develops a new history of foreign real estate investment by mapping the movement of human and financial capital over more than four centuries. The book argues the reconfiguration of Asian geopolitical power has ruptured the conceptual landscape for understanding international land and real estate relations. Drawing on assemblage theories (Latour, Deleuze and Guattari), assemblage analytical tactics (Sassen and Ong) and discursive media theories (Kittler and Foucault) a series of vignettes of land and real estate crisis are presented. The book demonstrates how foreign land claimers and global real estate professionals colonise, subvert and act beyond the governance structures of settler-societies to facilitate new types of capital circulation and accumulation around the world.

The issue of “housing” has generally not been granted an important role in post-war political economy. Housing-as-policy has been the preserve of social policy analysis and of a growing field of housing studies; housing-as-market has been confined to mainstream economics. This paper insists that political-economic analysis can no longer remain relatively indifferent to the housing question since housing is implicated in the contemporary capitalist political economy in numerous critical, connected, and very often contradictory ways. The paper conceptualizes this implication by identifying the multiple roles of housing when “capital” – the essential “stuff” of political economy – is considered from the perspective of each of its three primary, mutually-constitutive guises: as process of circulation, as social relation, and as ideology. Mobilizing these three optics to provide a critical overall picture of housing-in-political-economy (more than a political
economy of housing), we draw on and weave together the many vital contributions of housing research to our evolving understanding of capitalism.

Keywords: housing, political economy, capital, circulation, ideology, social relations

The current phenomenon of house price inflation began in 1997 and ran for a decade, until 2007. The answer to the mystery lies in the period 1996-1997.
There are only two factors that explain this phenomenon: (1) the growth of owner-occupation demand caused by population growth and (2) the growth of investment demand because of the availability of “buy-to-let”, and a global elite that can buy properties for cash. These two factors have led to a huge growth in the competition for houses, with price escalation as the inevitable result.
The report demonstrates that building more houses, despite being the solution most widely touted, is not the answer to the UK’s housing crisis. In the face of demand from both domestic and overseas investors who see housing as a safe haven for their money, building more houses will have no downward effect on prices. Although expansion of the housing stock has led to price stabilisation (and even decline) in many parts of the UK, in Greater London and the commuter towns of the South East (SE) of England, increasing the supply of houses can have no effect on prices, because of the scale of demand. What differentiates demand in the SE of England from demand in the rest of the UK, is that whilst housing demand in most parts of the UK is local, in London and much of the SE, demand is global. This investment demand is in addition to the steady demand growth caused by the UK population growing by over 3 million in the two decades from 1994 to 2014, a phenomenon which has provoked substantial price inflation in those parts of the UK where the immigration has been focussed. However, although these two factors have often worked in tandem, it is not immigration which is the focus of this report, but the rather more localised issue of investment demand.
The drivers of house price inflation can be grouped into three categories: population, incentivisation and financialisation. Each of these factors has been promoted by government policies, some inflationary effects have been direct and predictable, and others indirect and accidental.
House price inflation is caused by a number of factors including population growth, low interest rates and government schemes to promote house purchase, but the single most important driver of house price growth in the more salubrious parts of London is the investment behaviour of High Net Worth Individuals (HNWIs) , both domestic and foreign, who treat housing as an investment for surplus funds. Their impact however is not limited to those areas that they invest in, but ripples out to a much wider geographic area.

This paper investigates challenges faced by housing institutions and their effects on housing delivery systems in Lilongwe city council. It has used a survey of 5 institutions that develop, own, finance, design, and contract housing construction in Lilongwe city. It is established in this study that Government in partnership with private enterprises like banks and the Civil Society, is making some effort to provide housing delivery systems to the inhabitants of the city but the provision is biased towards the working people (civil servants and private sector formal employees). There are limited systems focusing on the poor urban masses that have low income. Corruption, limited delivery capacity by the housing institutions, weak economy with  low salaries, high  interest rates on loans and poor policy environment governing housing issues seem to be the major factors compromising progress. The key recommendation is that Government and its partners in housing development need to promote public, private, partnerships in resolving the plight of the poor urban masses that seem to be getting the bulk of the negative social and economic consequences for a weak urban housing delivery system.

Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojna (PMAY) is the current and greatest housing programs in India with a funding provision of $28 Billion. It is a multifaceted program offering a variety of options and products to the wide socioeconomic sections of the population. However, the effectiveness of PMAY in meeting the housing shortage is different from fulfilling the housing needs. This paper attempts to assess the PMAY from housing adequacy perspective. The concept of Housing Adequacy as developed by thr IHS Rotterdam permits an appraisal of housing programs beyond the quantitative supply-demand notion. It provides holistic understanding of the effectiveness of housing projects or schemes in not just quantitative aspects but also qualitative aspects. The housing adequacy infers to the idea of housing justice to the beneficiaries.

A building construction project is a high risk activity which must be managed effectively in all stages, in order to avoid delays and cost overruns, which in most cases are part of it, and a common problem. These problems occur frequently during project lifetime leading to disputes and litigation. There are numerous factors causing delays and cost overrun in building construction projects, and in order to mitigate these causes; the study aimed at identifying the mitigation measures in dealing with delay and cost overrun in public building project in DarEs -Salaam, Tanzania. This research presents a list of construction delay and cost overrun causes and mitigation retrieved from literature. The feedback from building construction experts was obtained through questionnaires. Subsequently, a questionnaire containing list of construction delays and cost overrun mitigations retrieved from literature was prepared. The questionnaire survey was distributed to 75 building construction experts, from the clients, consultants, and contractor's organizations side. Out of 75 distributed questionnaires, only 49 were returned. The data were analysed using Microsoft excel and ranked according to mean score for contractor, consultant and client. The general response from both parties were analysed, high scored factors were discussed. Effective project planning and scheduling; design change should be controlled; effective coordination and communication between parties; client, promptly paying the parties progressively; having accurate cost estimates; appoint competent site and project manager; comprehensive contract administration; ensuring prompt resolution in design change queries, issues and authorization report; efficient and effective planning time schedule for material procurement delivery process; developing effective strategic planning for solving identified risks; and ensuring on the timely availability of finance; were identified as the most effective mitigation measures in dealing with delay and cost overrun in public building project, due to having a mean score above 4.00.

Housing is one of the key issues for sustainable development as it accounts for at least 50% of urban land usage. Housing, with its physical aspect, is also economic sector creates direct and indirect multiplier effects and is evaluated as stimulant for economic development. Recent studies emphasizing the importance of housing for economy have some findings about an association between housing investment and economic growth. Realizing the importance of housing for economy, governments in Turkey changed the economic strategies and attempted to encourage housing construction with legal and planning regulations after 1980�s. However, fluctuations of macroeconomic condition such as high inflation and interest rate, and encountering national and international economic depressions affected the housing market stabilization. Where there was high interest rate and inflation, it has been observed a fall in housing construction and this made negative effects on economic development. After the 2001 economic depression, housing sector has been continuously growing with economic stabilization while inflation and interest rate has been decreasing. The amount of construction investment over total investment increased with economic development. This study aims to analysis the relationship between housing investment and economic development using correlation analysis in Turkey of which economy is growing. Using time series data from 1980 to 2005, housing is found to have strong effects on economic development similar to former studies.

This is a paper prepared by me for the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore-CRERI Real Estate Research Initiative. The paper is intended as a overview of the affordable housing sector with special emphasis on India. Affordable Housing is fast taking centrestage in the national agenda. In India, affordable housing is a term largely used in the urban context.Affordable housing refers to any housing that meets some form of affordability criterion, which could be income level of the family, size of the dwelling unit or affordability in terms of EMI size or ratio of house price to annual income.
The demand drivers for affordable housing are several.Alongside the growth of the urban population, rising incomes have led to the expansion of the middle class. This has led to a spike in demand for housing that is affordable but includes basic amenities. The agencies working in the affordable housing sector can be classified into . the public sector and the private sector. Both are dogged by issues such as scarcity of land,scarcity of marketable land parcels,titling Issues, rising costs and regulatory concerns. The way forward calls for a collaborative multi-pronged multi-stakehoder approach.

Although differences between generation X (born between 1961 and 1980) and Y
(born between 1981 and 1995) about the factors which drive homeownership have
policy implications, little or no research has been undertaken into this issue. Results of
interviews undertaken show that generation X and Y agree that price was the most
important factor and that there are more generation Y reliant on government help.
Questionnaire results found that “income and housing prices” and “affordability and
accessibility” were the most important factors among generation X and Y, respectively.
This paper concludes that policy makers need to consider the generation differences.

The paper aims to reveal one integrated global map which points out the major geographical inequalities in providing basic utilities across the countries using multivariate analysis and thematic cartography. Sixteen indicators with global coverage were selected taking into account the waste collection services, sanitation facilities, drinking water sources, energy, electricity, habitat and demographic conditions. Several data are broken down for the total, urban and rural population in order to outline the rural-urban disparities between and within countries. A special focus is given to waste collection coverage, in order to compute a comprehensive global assessment of this key indicator of public health, which is one of the poorest monitored basic utility. The world countries were divided into 10 classes according to the hierarchical cluster analysis. Each class has particular features outlining the gaps between high, middle and low-income countries with direct impact on quality of life, public health, and environment.

There is increased interest in the UK in cohousing as a desirable alternative for older people. The economics of developing cohousing differ from the normal model for residential development; in particular, the participatory nature of the process increases
the time required and there are higher risks for both resident/purchaser and developer. We examine the nature of supply and risk using the case of a new senior cohousing
community in south London. Given its evident benefits, senior cohousing may eventually become more widespread, and perceived risks will fall. However, the nature of the residential development process means that cohousing will always be at a disadvantage when competing for land in high demand areas like London, and the time
required for participatory processes increases costs. To currently increase the small number of cohousing communities in the UK and ensure affordability, targeted measures
may be necessary to enable groups to access land and mitigate the higher costs associated with longer term collaborative processes.

ABSTRACT How will housing markets respond to increased frequency and severity of flooding expected with global climate change? Existing models yield poor predictions because they assume perfect information and rational decision-making processes in the housing market. This paper sets out a plausible alternative framework for analysing housing price responses to flood frequency and severity based on findings of behavioural economics and the sociology of risk, which emphasise myopic and amnesiac perceptions of risk. It utilises this framework to analyse graphically a variety of flood scenarios and their implications for housing prices and government intervention

Modern market housing is being formed in close interrelation between architecture, urban planning, social and economic factors. This is reflected in the system of terms and notions, which are in need for both acquaintance with relevant foreign experience, its critical analysis and learning lessons from it. The dictionary is meant to be used by graduate and post-graduate students and researchers in architecture, urban planning, civil engineering, housing economics and sociology, whose academic and professional interests are in studying and developing of housing market. It will not only be helpful in texts' translating but also introduces a user into the linguistic environment of modern market housing. In its two parts the dictionary contains more than 700 vocabulary entries. It has been compiled on the basis of up-to-date English-language scientific literature on housing, specialized dictionaries and handbooks. Entries’ selection is explained either by their common used nature or by their specific and important role in this sphere of knowledge. In addition to the English-Russian dictionary there are lists of principal Russian words and phrases (in ABC order) and of the more widespread abbreviations and acronyms.

for helpful comments on a previous draft of this paper. Ed Olsen gratefully acknowledges financial support from the Bankard Fund for Political Economy at the University of Virginia. The opinions expressed in this paper are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of Freddie Mac or its Board of Directors. This paper was written while Amy Crews Cutts

Studies indicate flexibility in space use in architectural design as enhancing core housing affordability. Despite this and the notion that intended residents cannot afford core houses, it is not yet documented what constitutes this attribute, and whether they featured in the core house designs. This information, required as a check for future designs, is lacking. Study examined flexibility in space use in architectural designs of existing public core housing schemes in Anambra State, Nigeria, using Mixed Method approach (data sourced from architectural drawings of existing prototypes, field observations and personal interview protocols). Observation schedule with "Yes" and "No" ratings was used in ascertaining reflection of the attribute in each of the 7 prototypes studied. The attribute was found featuring only in 1 out of the 7 prototypes. For affordability improvement, the paper recommends consideration of the variables constituting flexibility in space use i...

However, no one knows the final direction that the global financial crisis will take. Turkey seems to have decoupled from the other countries during the turmoil, at least for now. Taking into account the instabilities and crises which have been observed since the 1980s, this seems to be good news. But, as a senior member of the “emerging markets club”, Turkey still has important economic problems. A long-standing current account problem,1 high level of PSBR (government deficit), structural domestic economic problems and risks of short-term capital movements are still important challenges for the Turkish economy. Therefore, foreign direct/portfolio investors generally
tend to analyse the country’s economic future objectively.

I wrote this theoretical paper on why house prices can rise faster than incomes in 2011, I gave at the Australian Economists Conference in 2012 and again in 2017. This is the presentation.

What it does is show from first principles how housing prices can go up faster than incomes - which would normally be regarded as impossible - and when they do, how housing then naturally falls into the hands of the Haves at the expense of the Have Nots. Something as simple as inelastic supply can lead markets to deliver suboptimal social outcomes. Which - they just keep on doing.

Negative press, research, and reports from around the world raises issues regarding our current state in the fight surrounding poverty and homelessness, as a result of poverty. During my entire life, I believed stability will overcome a lot of self-development problems.  It never usually is the case for everyone, particularly in my case. In tenth grade, there were situations regarding my family that ended up resulting in my Mother, sister and I becoming homeless. Homelessness can happen due to low income situations (such as job situations or little or lack of money), crime, lack of education, location, as well as lack of public assistance resources. Social class structures albeit turn their noses to those who are homeless, yet, not all these people are mentally unstable. My family, who ended up homeless in 1999, was as a result of several factors. It can be caused by not having enough money to find shelter, such as not making enough income. It can be due to a domestic dispute, such as being thrown out of your domicile. It can be caused by crime, such as someone (or more than one person) vandalizing and/or committing arson on your domicile. It can be caused by mental instability, before homelessness occurs.