The deduction for qualified residence interest (QRI) is the second largest individual tax expenditure, after the exclusion for employer provided health insurance. While homeownership has long been viewed as a social good, the QRI deduction has faced criticism. Commentators have argued that it is...

In 2014, the volume of housing mortgage lending (HML) in the Russian Federation continued to grow despite the development of crisis phenomena in the Russian economy. The volume of housing mortgage credits (HMC) allotted in 2014 (Rb 1.762 trillion) was 30.18% above the same index for 2013, while...

Developments in primary mortgage markets, housing finance system and the activities of Housing Development Agency (HDA/TOKI) have been the major trends in Turkish housing markets in last decade. Based on the current policies, HDA seems the central institution to solve housing problems of the...

Housing a ffordability broadly refers to the cost of housing services and shelter - both for renters and owner occupiers - relative to a given individual's or household's disposable income. While there is no universal definition for this term, housing affordability is an easy concept to grasp in...

Poland underwent a quick transition of the economy, but its housing market and housing policy did not change quick enough. The economic growth that followed the EU accession lead to a rising housing demand, which was fuelled by quite cheap FX denominated mortgages. Those allowed many households...

After a decade under federal control, the Belgian regions became responsible for the mortgage interest and capital deduction (MICD) in 2015. One region drastically reduced the average subsidy while another left it unaffected. Exploiting this variation in a difference in differences design, we...

The purpose of this chapter is to survey recent research on housing markets and policy in what used to be called the “second” and “third” worlds. We adopt the labels “transition” economies to refer to countries as disparate as Russia and Vietnam, and “developing” to refer to...

Governments throughout the world intervene heavily in housing markets, and most have multiple policies to pursue multiple goals. This chapter deals with two of the largest types of housing policies in the United States, namely, low-income rental assistance and policies to promote homeownership...

Motivated by the revealed preference approach to consumer theory, this study constructs a dynamic theoretical model which infers the unobservable household behavior from the observable patterns of housing and mortgage market activities. The model emphasizes the role of sellers and their...

In Q2 2013, the monthly weighted average interest rate on ruble-denominated housing mortgage loans was no longer on the rise, after a more than year-long period of growth: the interest rate for June was 12.6% against its record high of 12.9% in March 2013. The volume of housing mortgage lending...