Developments in the real-estate sector are of crucial importance for the business cycle and financial stability. This study analyses developments in the Italian housing market on the basis of both real and financial variables. Following the sharp contraction of the market during the financial...

Risky investment projects make the coordination among small, uninformed investors hard to achieve, and generate inefficient low levels of investment. Several authors have pointed out the benefits to an economy from multiple avenues of financial intermediation. This paper explains endogenously...

The paper reviews the supply of different mortgage instruments to Italian households by means of data obtained from a survey conducted in 2007 by the Bank of Italy over more than 300 banks. The results document significant innovations in housing finance in the last five years: a greater variety...