The impacts of a major hurricane on residential real estate can be devastating. Hurricane Sandy in New York City (NYC) is among the examples of how flooding can unexpectedly extend beyond FEMA flood zones. Such surprises or negative shocks can provide property owners—especially those not...

There is a large literature in the U.S. measuring the extent and stringency of land-use regulations in urban areas and how these regulations affect important outcomes such as housing prices and economic growth. This paper is the first to present an international measure of regulatory stringency...