We estimate the effect of broker characteristics on sales performance on a large dataset of residential real estate transactions in the Netherlands from 1985 to 2011. Using house fixed-effects, we find that large brokers, brokers who are close by, and brokers on a fixed-price commission, sell...

The research aims at spatial and socio-economic analysis of landscape patterns in Baltic coastal area of Estonia. The process of active suburbanization, which is analysed in the current work, is caused by complex socio-economical factors which arise from sociopolitical changes since the end of...

Housing affordability is the main policy challenge for many large cities in the world. Zoning changes, rent control, housing vouchers, and tax credits are the main levers employed by policy makers. But how effective are they at combatting the affordability crisis? We build a new framework to...

We investigate the impact of Great Recession policies in California that substantially increased lender pecuniary and time costs of foreclosure. We estimate that the California Foreclosure Prevention Laws (CFPLs) prevented 250,000 California foreclosures (a 20% reduction) and created $300...

Following the 2008 financial crisis, mortgage credit tightened and banks lost significant mortgage market share to nonbank lenders, including to fintech firms recently. Have fintech firms expanded credit access, or are their customers similar to those of traditional lenders? Unlike in small...

This paper analyzes how relative housing wealth affects labor supply. Using China's great housing boom as a natural experiment, we examine this empirical question and find that an appreciation in relative housing wealth significantly reduces the average working hours. We also find that this...

The debate on the impact of economic conditions on health has been recently amplified by the drug crisis in the US attributed by some to “deaths of despair.” There is little understanding of the magnitude of the impact of economic conditions on health and the reasons why it varies across...

A general equilibrium model, that incorporates endogenous production and local housing markets, is developed in order to explain the price relationship among human capital, housing, and stocks, and to uncover the role of housing in asset pricing. Housing serves as an asset as well as a durable...

Buyers’ onsite viewing activities reveal important information about their housing demands, yet empirically we know little about their impact on transaction outcomes. Using a unique proprietary dataset which includes 4,397,652 onsite viewing records and 621,040 transaction outcomes from the...