This Paper analyses the effects of residential property holdings on optimal investment portfolios. Using a mean-variance framework, we show that residential real estate offers significant diversification benefits relative to investments in stocks and bonds for US investors. Risk averse investors...

<p>We document that home ownership of households with 'heads' aged 25-44 years fell substantially between 1980 and 2000 and recovered only partially during the 2001-2005 housing boom. The 1980-2000 decline in young home ownership occurred as improvements in mortgage opportunities made it easier to...</p>

Home-buying trends carve new niches in home types.

Despite economic ups and downs, strong housing markets have managed to lift a lot of boats

Has housing affordability improved? Yes and no.

Formally, the European Union (EU) should not, and does not, formulate housing policy, this being a function lodged with the individual member states. Against the background of the Lisbon objectives and the Kok report, however, the present paper argues that the EU has actually appeared to promote...

Home ownership sectors in most European countries have experienced growth in recent decades and by the mid-1990s the majority of EU15 households were home owners. While a great deal of attention has been paid to the rise in home ownership per se, the extent to which households in different EU...

This paper examines the experience of households in two adjacent countries, Germany and the Netherlands, both of which have relatively modest levels of home ownership but significantly different housing systems. Population growth is slowing down in Germany, while it is still increasing in the...

This article explains the recent high levels of residential investment and rates of homeownership.