In this paper, we describe the construction of estimates of private real estate capital for each of 242 MSAs, annually, for 1982 through 1994. We compute three such series: (1) total private real estate capital (residential and nonresidential); (2) private single-family residential capital; and...

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 countries as...

Over the past forty years, rent control has been a feature of housing in Ghana. This study focusses on the housing market in Kumasi, the second largest city in Ghana. The authors examine the characteristics of the rent control regime in force there, and assess the costs and benefits of rent...

Our study investigates the role of speculation in real estate cycles. We find that even a simple model of lagged supply response to price changes and speculation is sufficient to generate real estate cycles. Second, the volatility of prices - the biggest purported downside of "speculation" - is...