I show that both before and after the Great Recession, housing dynamics strongly correlate with current account dynamics, both across and within countries. In a benchmark DSGE model of housing markets, housing price-to-rent ratios are counterfactual if the transmission channel from housing to...

This paper studies the role of housing markets in explaining recent current account dynamics. I document a strong negative correlation, both across and within countries, between housing and current account dynamics. Then, in a quantitative two-country model without exchange rate driven...

This paper studies the impact of a new class of investors on the dynamics of U.S. housing affordability after the Financial Crisis. Using a novel instrumental variable and processing 85 million housing transactions, we find that investors' purchases increase the price-to-income ratio, especially...

We show that a contraction of mortgage supply after the Great Recession has increased housing rents. Our empirical strategy exploits heterogeneity in MSAs' exposure to regulatory shocks experienced by lenders over the 2010-2014 period. Tighter lending standards have increased demand for rental...

We study the effects of news about sea level rise on housing markets. We exploit a natural experiment in Spain. In 2014 Greenpeace published an alarming report predicting catastrophic consequences for La Manga, a tourist peninsula. The report was widely cited in the local news. We find that the...

We study how investors in housing markets have changed after the 2009 financial crisis and the consequences for the markets and the economy. We document several new facts: (a) Institutional investors have replaced individual investors. (b) Most new investors are buy-and-hold investors as they...