In this paper we revisit the connection between changes in interest rates, loan-to-value ratios and expectations in inaÌuencing housing prices. We construct a two good general equilibrium model in which housing is a composite good produced using structures and land. We show that changes in...

After the collapse of housing markets during the Great Depression, the government played a large role shaping the future of the housing .nance, housing policy in the New Deal, as well as the development of the GI Bill for war veterans that had signi.cant importance for mortgage .nance and...

Foreclosure rates have soared during the recent housing crisis. In this paper we argue that exploring the implications of the legal environment pertinent to foreclosures is very relevant to the understanding of the macroeconomic transmission of the financial crises. Foreclosure law is designed...

This paper describes a quantitative model developed to understand the key determinats of house prices boom-and-bust cycles. The key driving forces behind the boom are residential investment, immigration, current account deficits, relaxation of downpayment constraints, and the elimination of land...

The empirical evidence from the last decade suggests that sizeable increases in housing defaults can be the result of either income shocks (recession 2001) or changes in the market value of the house (2005-2007 period). The objective of this paper is to understand the double feedback mechanism...

The objective of this paper is to understand the sources of the boom in home ownership between 1940 and 1960. The increase over this period was five times larger than the recent episode 1996-2004. In the post-depression period the government opted to intervene and regulate housing finance,...

Current slack in the economy may be caused primarily by the construction sector.