China has weathered the global financial turmoil in much better shape than most other countries, including the United States. However, there been concerns that banks loosened their lending standards too much as a result of a huge stimulus, among other factors. This led to excessive lending to...

This paper reviews the major characteristics and performance of a number of OECD country mortgage markets. The paper compares and contrasts the structure, principal features and performance of the primary and secondary markets with that of the US. The comparison includes the types of lenders and...

A central argument in the ongoing discussion about the fates of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is the importance of the 30-year, fixed-rate, prepayable mortgage (FRM). The FRM has been held up as the gold standard in mortgage instrument design and as an essential element of the U.S. housing-finance...

The topic of Government Sponsored Enterprise (GSE) privatization is at least two decades old. In the early 1980s, HUD studied the feasibility of privatizing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. In 1986, Freddie Mac's Advisory Committee (the pre-cursor to its Board of Directors) discussed the subject. In...

Despite its recognized economic and social importance, housing finance often remains underdeveloped in emerging economies. Residential lending remains small, poorly accessible, and depository-based. Lenders remain vulnerable to significant credit, liquidity, and interest rate risks. As a result,...

Despite its recognized economic and social importance, housing finance often remains underdeveloped in emerging economies. Residential lending remains small, poorly accessible, and depository-based. Lenders remain vulnerable to significant credit, liquidity, and interest rate risks. As a result,...

This report documented the importance of housing in the economy while at the same time providing governments with guidelines on how best to design policy to create efficient housing markets. The purpose of this book is to provide fact-based information and guidance to policy makers concerned...

The Narodowy Bank Polski organized during November 14-15, 2013 an international workshop to discuss current issues in the field of real estate analysis from the central bank’s point of view. The development of residential real estate prices as well as commercial real estate prices and real...

The purpose of paper is to review the policy responses to the US mortgage market crisis and assess how much the market has changed. There were many contributors to the meltdown of the US mortgage market. As summarized by the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission, the major causes of the crisis...