The first book that explains the economics of housing policy for a general audience. Planners, government officials, and public policy students will find that the economic perspective is a very powerful and useful way to examine these issues. The authors provide a broad review of the market for housing services in the U.S., including a conceptual framework, an overview of housing demand and supply, methods for measuring prices and quantities, and sources of basic data on markets. They cover housing programs and polices, and offer answers to policy questions that are of current interest. The book has been field-tested in graduate and undergraduate courses in urban and housing economics at the University of Wisconsin, the University of California--Berkeley, The University of Pennsylvania, and others. This book is also sure to be useful to policymakers, advocates, economists, and anyone interested in a clear picture of how housing markets function. Published in cooperation with the American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association (AREUEA).

A global look at the reasons behind the recent economic collapse, and the responses to it The speculative bubble in the housing market began to burst in the United States in 2007, and has been followed by ruptures in virtually every asset market in almost every country in the world. Each country proposed a range of policy initiatives to deal with its crisis. Policies that focused upon stabilizing the housing market formed the cornerstone of many of these proposals. This internationally focused book evaluates the genesis of the housing market bubble, the global viral contagion of the crisis, and the policy initiatives undertaken in some of the major economies of the world to counteract its disastrous affects. Unlike other books on the global crisis, this guide deals with the housing sector in addition to the financial sector of individual economies. Countries in many parts of the world were players in either the financial bubble or the housing bubble, or both, but the degree of impact, outcome, and responses varied widely. This is an appropriate time to pull together the lessons from these various experiences. Reveals the housing crisis in the United States as the core of the meltdown Describes the evolution of housing markets and policies in the run-up to the crisis, their impacts, and the responses in European and Asian countries Compares experiences and linkages across countries and points to policy implications and research lessons drawn from these experiences Filled with the insights of well-known contributors with strong contacts in practice and academia, this timely guide discusses the history and evolution of the recent crisis as local to each contributor's part of the world, and examines its distinctive and common features with that of the U.S., the trajectory of its evolution, and the similarities and differences in policy response.

This foundational text for understanding housing, housing design, homeownership, housing policy, special topics in housing, and housing in a global context has been comprehensively revised to reflect the changed housing situation in the United States during and after the Great Recession and its subsequent movements toward recovery. The book focuses on the complexities of housing and housing-related issues, engendering an understanding of housing, its relationship to national economic factors, and housing policies. It comprises individual chapters written by housing experts who have specialization within the discipline or field, offering commentary on the physical, social, psychological, economic, and policy issues that affect the current housing landscape in the United States and abroad, while proposing solutions to its challenges.

This report and the corresponding guidelines are the outcome of a two-year project carried out by a group of specialists, whose objective was to take stock of existing work in the field of social housing for vulnerable groups. It complements the report on access to social rights in Europe (2002, ISBN 9789287149855) and is an integral part of the Council of Europe's Social Cohesion Strategy. Addressed to policy makers at national and local levels, service organisations and users, this work provides examples and guidelines on designing and implementing effective housing policies for vulnerable social groups.

This book investigates how housing policy changes in Asia since the late 1990s have impacted on housing affordability, security, livability, culture and social development. Using case study examples from countries/cities including China, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Taiwan, Korea, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam, the contributors contextualize housing policy development in terms of both global and local socio-economic and political changes. They then investigate how policy changes have shaped and re-shaped the housing wellbeing of the local people and the social development within these places, which they argue should constitute the core purpose of housing policy. This book will open up a new dimension for understanding housing and social development in Asia and a new conceptual perspective with which to examine housing which, by nature, is culture-sensitive and people-oriented. It will be of interest to students, scholars and professionals in the areas of housing studies, urban and social development and the public and social policy of Asia.

This timely book addresses key challenges faced by policy makers and the house-building industry in a post-credit crunch world. It examines the implications for households, the housing market, the economy, as well as for government's policy choices. Challenges of the Housing Economy: an international perspective brings together experts from around the world to examine recent housing market trends. The contributions reveal common long-term trends in housing markets worldwide. Despite differences in supply conditions and the role of planning, there is a trend toward rising house prices that has created significant barriers to home ownership for young households while increasing the wealth of older generations. The financial crisis had a differential impact on housing markets but in many countries where mortgage finance became severely constrained, house prices fell and there was a dramatic fall in housing construction. The falls in house prices in these countries have ostensibly improved affordability but the housing markets have been dominated by the lowering of loan to values applicable to new mortgages which has further raised the hurdles to potential first-time purchasers. At the same time as young households are increasingly rationed out of owner-occupation, public sector expenditure cut-backs in many countries result in limited new social housing. Instead, value for money imperatives will mean new funding models for affordable housing that require greater use of public-private partnerships. The private rented sector could potentially meet the demand for the new generation of long-term renters. However, there are doubts - in the UK at least - that this sector will be able to expand significantly or provide an appropriate type and standard of housing. This is an essential advanced text for students and researchers of land economy and land management; property and real estate; housing policy; and urban studies.

Since Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal, American housing policy has focused on building homes for the poor. But seventy-five years of federal housing projects have not significantly ameliorated crime, decreased unemployment, or improved health; recent reforms have failed to revitalize low-income neighborhoods or stimulate the economy. To be successful in the twenty-first century, American housing policy must stop reinventing failed programs. Housing Policy at a Crossroads: The Why, How, and Who of Assistance Programs provides a comprehensive survey of past low-income housing programs, including public and subsidized housing, tax credits for developers, and block grants for state and local governments. John C. Weicher's comparative analysis of these programs yields several key conclusions: Affordability, not quality, is the most pressing challenge for housing policy today; of all the housing programs, vouchers have provided the most choice for the poor at the lowest cost to the taxpayer; because vouchers are much less expensive than public or subsidized housing, future subsidized projects would be an inefficient use of resources; vouchers should be offered only to the poorest members of society, ensuring that aid is available to those who need it most. At once a history of housing policy, a guide to issues confronting policymakers, and a case for vouchers as the cheapest, most effective solution, Housing Policy at a Crossroads is a timely warning that reinventing failed building programs would be a very costly wrong turn for America.

This authoritative reference work explores the factors driving the much-debated increase in economic inequality in U.S. society, as well as the impact that this divide is having on U.S. culture, politics, families, communities, and institutions. This reference work provides an authoritative and comprehensive resource for both students and scholars who are interested in learning more about the rich-poor divide in the United States—a divide regarded by many lawmakers, researchers, pundits, and concerned citizens as one of the nation's most serious problems. The book provides important historical background for understanding how the nation has grappled with (or ignored) this issue in the past, examines specific causes of inequality identified by observers across the political spectrum, and summarizes the potential consequences (both present and future) of economic inequality. This book examines more than 25 issues frequently cited as factors contributing to the rapidly widening gap between socioeconomic classes in the U.S., ranging from such demographic factors as race and gender to tax code provisions and differences in access to quality education and health care. The book also provides both a retrospective and prospective look at government policies aimed at addressing inequality or assisting the poor. Finally, the book looks ahead to survey the future of inequality in America.

This book explains the nuts and bolts of affordable housing development. Divided into two complementary sections, the book first provides an overview of the effectiveness of existing federal and state housing programs in the United States, such as the LIHTC and TIF programs. In turn, the book’s second section presents an extensive discussion of and insights into the financial feasibility of an affordable real estate development project. Researchers, policymakers and organizations in the public, private and nonprofit sectors will find this book a valuable resource in addressing the concrete needs of affordable housing development. “Luque, Ikromov, and Noseworthy’s new book on Affordable Housing Development is a “must read” for all those seeking to address the growing and vexing problem of affordable housing supply. The authors provide important insights and practical demonstration of important financial tools often necessary to the financial feasibility of such projects, including tax-increment financing and the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit. Further, the authors provide important backdrop to the affordability crisis and homelessness. I highly recommend this book to all who seek both to articulate and enhance housing access.” By Stuart Gabriel, Arden Realty Chair, Professor of Finance and Director, Richard S. Ziman Center for Real Estate at UCLA "Over several years Jaime Luque, Nuriddin Ikromov and William Noseworthy applied their analytical bent, and no small measure of empathy, to homelessness as actually experienced in Madison, Wisconsin – and they inspired multiple classes of urban economics students to join them. “Homelessness” is a complex web of issues affecting a spectrum of populations, from individuals struggling with addiction or emotional disorders, to families who’ve been dealt a bad hand in an often-unforgiving economy. Read this book to follow Jaime, Nuriddin, and William as they evaluate a panoply of housing and social programs, complementing the usual top-down design perspective with practical analysis of the feasibility of actual developments and their effectiveness. Analytical but written for a broad audience, this book will be of interest to anyone running a low-income housing program, private and public developers, students, and any instructor designing a learning-by-doing course that blends rigor with real-world application to a local problem." By Stephen Malpezzi, Professor Emeritus, James A. Graaskamp Center for Real Estate, Wisconsin School of Business, University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Dean, Weimer School of the Homer Hoyt Institute.