Housing quality has improved dramatically for most low-income households, but they are paying much larger shares of their income for it. Many discussions of the bottom of the market focus on either the rising costs (the 'bad' news) or the rising quality (the 'good' news). Both points of view...

The homeownership rate in the United States was essentially stagnant during the 1980's. This stagnation should be a source of concern if the rate reflects stagnant economic conditions and ownership opportunities, not if it simply reflects changing demographic conditions or preferences. Using a...

This essay will examine the development of housing strategies for low and moderate income countries by framing a set of questions, attempting to answer those questions, considering the policy implications of the questions, and developing strategies for dealing with those policy implications.The...

Brazil has largely accomplished its urban transition but housing conditions for many residents of its urban centers remain such that they have large negative effects on individual and social welfare. This report develops a comprehensive measure of housing adequacy based on seven different...

Home mortgages have loomed continually larger in the financial situation of American households. In 1949, mortgage debt was equal to 20 percent of total household income; by 1979, it had risen to 46 percent of income; by 2001, 73 percent of income (Bernstein, Boushey and Mishel, 2003). Similarly,...

Not so long ago, the US housing finance system was arguably the best in the world. Consumers had access to products that were not available elsewhere, and the market was able to sustain major economic disruptions with relatively little impact on either the cost or availability of mortgage...

Media and academic attention to the art market has mostly focused on the high end, composed of famous auction houses and a few well-known international dealers. In this paper, we use a newly developed database to examine the industry structure and location patterns of the broader New York art...

This paper examines the magnitude of human capital spillovers on unemployment. Using bothindividual and metropolitan level data, we find that the adult population share of collegegraduates is negatively associated with the unemployment rate. More specifically, we find thatthose who reside in...

What impact does a forced sale have upon a property owner's wealth? And do certain characteristics of a property owner such as whether they are rich or poor or whether they are black or white, tend to affect the price yielded at a forced sale? This Article addresses arguments made by some courts...

We find that children of homeowners have better outcomes than children of renters whether their parents make a large or small initial investment in their home, as long as they make a minimal down payment when they buy their homes. Children with parents who made no down payment have similar...