This study evaluates the effectiveness of geographic diversification in reducing housing investment risk. To characterize diversification potential, we estimate spatial correlation and integration among 401 US metropolitan housing markets. The 2000s boom brought a marked uptrend in housing...

This paper explores the housing affordability distance to a superstar city. Affordability distance is defined in terms of the increment to household income required to consume a quality- and consumption-adjusted housing unit in a proximate superstar city. The analysis focuses on Tel Aviv,...

We introduce a new measure of housing affordability that adjusts for normative variation in housing consumption. The new measure is computed using extensive micro-data from Israel for the 1998–2015 period. Findings suggest sharp declines in Israel quality- and consumption-adjusted...

We provide new evidence of cyclical variation in mortgage default option exercise. For a given level of negative equity, borrower propensity to default rose markedly during the financial crisis and in hard-hit metropolitan areas. Analysis of time-series and panel data indicates the importance of...

This research employs data from a natural experiment to assess the effects of behavioral heuristics on housing choice and public program management. The analysis focuses on programs designed to privatize public housing in Israel. The government programs provided tenants with a call (real) option...