Policy will cut the risk of booming house prices

Significance The government in New Zealand, where the market is particularly buoyant, was the first to react in February. It now requires the Reserve Bank to consider house prices when setting monetary policy. Other governments and central banks have shown little sign of following suit. Impacts Calls are rising for the US Federal Reserve to taper its purchases of mortgage-backed securities, but it will remain cautious. Rising financial stability risks and house price booms increase the risk of insolvency for borrowers and non-performing-loans for banks. Higher house prices add indirectly to consumer price inflation if they push up rents, but this link takes time to materialise.

2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 70-81 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alper Ozun ◽  
Hasan Murat Ertugrul ◽  
Yener Coskun

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to introduce an empirical model for house price spillovers between real estate markets. The model is presented by using data from the US-UK and London-New York housing markets over a period of 1975Q1-2016Q1 by employing both static and dynamic methodologies. Design/methodology/approach The research analyzes long-run static and dynamic spillover elasticity coefficients by employing three methods, namely, autoregressive distributed lag, the fully modified ordinary least square and dynamic ordinary least squares estimator under a Kalman filter approach. The empirical method also investigates dynamic correlation between the house prices by employing the dynamic control correlation method. Findings The paper shows how a dynamic spillover pricing analysis can be applied between real estate markets. On the empirical side, the results show that country-level causality in housing prices is running from the USA to UK, whereas city-level causality is running from London to New York. The model outcomes suggest that real estate portfolios involving US and UK assets require a dynamic risk management approach. Research limitations/implications One of the findings is that the dynamic conditional correlation between the US and the UK housing prices is broken during the crisis period. The paper does not discuss the reasons for that break, which requires further empirical tests by applying Markov switching regime shifts. The timing of the causality between the house prices is not empirically tested. It can be examined empirically by applying methods such as wavelets. Practical implications The authors observed a unidirectional causality from London to New York house prices, which is opposite to the aggregate country-level causality direction. This supports London’s specific power in the real estate markets. London has a leading role in the global urban economies residential housing markets and the behavior of its housing prices has a statistically significant causality impact on the house prices of New York City. Social implications The house price co-integration observed in this research at both country and city levels should be interpreted as a continuity of real estate and financial integration in practice. Originality/value The paper is the first research which applies a dynamic spillover analysis to examine the causality between housing prices in real estate markets. It also provides a long-term empirical evidence for a dynamic causal relationship for the global housing markets.


Subject The rise in global house prices. Significance In the first quarter of 2015, the global house price index, aggregating prices in 52 countries, was at about the same level as in early 2007, according to IMF data. This recovery has occurred in a period of wage gains in most emerging markets (EMs), but little or no growth in household income across most advanced economies. Living costs excluding housing have stagnated and interest rates have been exceptionally low. Yet US interest rates are rising now and global prices are unlikely to keep falling beyond 2016, while many EMs have slumped into recession. As households are hit by more adverse trends, property markets and the related sectors will be affected. Impacts The EM house price boom will be curbed by slowing income growth and weaker economic prospects. High house-prices-to-household-income ratios and household debt might require the introduction of macroprudential tools. The US housing market will stay affordable compared to its long-term average and to Europe's.


2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 257-270
Author(s):  
Arvydas Jadevicius ◽  
Peter van Gool

Purpose This study is a practice undertaking examining three main concerns that currently dominate Dutch housing market debate: how long is the cycle, will the current house price inflation continue and is housing market in a bubble. With national house prices reaching record highs across all major cities, future market prospects became a topic of significant debate among policymakers, investors and the populace. Design/methodology/approach A triangulation of well-established academic methods is used to perform investigation. The models include Hodrick-Prescott (HP) filter, volatility autoregressive conditional heteroskedasticity (ARCH approximation) and right tail augmented Dickey–Fuller (Rtadf) test (bubble screening technique). Findings Interestingly, over the years from 1985 to 2019 research period, filtering extracts only one Dutch national housing cycle. This is a somewhat distinct characteristic compared to other advanced Western economies (inter alia the UK and the USA) where markets tend to experience 8- to 10-year gyrations. Volatility and Rtadf test suggest that current house prices in most Dutch cities are in excess of historical averages and statistical thresholds. House price levels in Almere, Amsterdam, The Hague, Groningen, Rotterdam and Utrecht are of particular concern. Originality/value Retail investors should therefore be cautious as they are entering the market at the time of elevated housing values. For institutional investors, those investing in long-term, housing in key Dutch metropolitan areas, even if values decline, is still an attractive investment conduit.


2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 148-164 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manuchehr Irandoust

Purpose This paper aims to examine whether there exists a long-run causal relationship between house prices and unemployment rates for eight major European countries. Design/methodology/approach The bootstrap panel Granger causality approach that accounts for cross-sectional dependence, slope heterogeneity and structural breaks is used to detect the direction of causality. Findings The empirical findings for the overall panel support the presence of unidirectional causality running from house prices to unemployment. Practical implications The findings are not only important for households but also for policymakers concerned with economic and financial stability. Originality/value There are only a limited number of studies that have investigated the direct link between house prices and employment or unemployment. Given the increased importance of labor market variables, particularly the choice of the unemployment rate as a key indicator in designing forward guidance and the increased financial stability concerns regarding house price dynamics, it is important to better understand the causal linkages between house prices and unemployment rates. To the best of the author’s knowledge, this paper is the first to apply the bootstrap panel Granger causality approach to examine the relationship between house prices and unemployment rates.


Subject Inflation targeting. Significance The effectiveness of the ultra-loose monetary policy of the US Federal Reserve (Fed), the Bank of Japan (BoJ) and the ECB is increasingly being questioned. Over the last ten years, despite very low and even negative policy rates in Japan and the euro-area, consumer price inflation has run well below 2%, the benchmark for the three central banks’ price stability objective. There are calls for central banks to shift from a strict 2% target, but the three central banks are wary to do so. Impacts The Fed will release the results of its policy review in the first half of 2020, but has no intention of moving from its 2% price target. The ECB president intends to hold a similar review, but the national bank governors do not support changing the inflation target. The adoption of a target range around 2% would give central banks maximum flexibility to adapt to a changing inflationary environment. Medium-to-longer-term discussions will consider monetary options beyond price targeting.


2018 ◽  
Vol 36 (6) ◽  
pp. 539-551 ◽  
Author(s):  
Petros Stavrou Sivitanides

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to validate and quantify the effect of key macroeconomic drivers on London house prices using annual data over the period 1983–2016. Design/methodology/approach Within this context, the authors estimate alternative error-correction and partial-adjustment models (PAMs), which have been widely used in the empirical literature in modelling the slow adjustments of house prices to demand and supply shocks. Findings The results verify the existence of a strong long-term relationship between London house prices and key macroeconomic variables, such as UK GDP, London population and housing completions. A key finding of the study relevant to the debate on the causes of the housing affordability crisis is that the results provide little evidence in support of the argument that user demand, which is captured in the author’s model by Greater London population, may have had a diminished role in driving house price inflation in London. Practical implications The practical and policy implications of the results are that increased homebuilding activity in London will undoubtedly help limit house price increases. Also, any potential reduction of immigration and economic growth due to Brexit will also have a similar effect. Originality/value The originality of this research lies in the use of annual data that may better capture the long-term effect of macroeconomic drivers on house prices and the estimation of such effects through both error-correction and partial-adjustment models.


Significance The RBNZ’s no-change stance reflects major world central banks’ recent retreat from tightening. While current New Zealand economic growth is firm, the RBNZ and the government are concerned about the slowing global economy and potential disruption from Brexit and the US-China trade standoff. Impacts To strengthen commercial banks’ resilience, the RBNZ may double tier one capital reserves requirements; tier two could go. Robertson’s second budget on May 30 will further the “wellbeing” agenda, widening criteria for assessing government management. The wellbeing criteria will include assessing environmental, human and social capital. Wellington wants a New Zealand-UK free trade deal post-Brexit, but this will depend on the UK-EU withdrawal deal’s detail.


2021 ◽  
pp. 0308518X2198894
Author(s):  
Peter Phibbs ◽  
Nicole Gurran

On the world stage, Australian cities have been punching above their weight in global indexes of housing prices, sparking heated debates about the causes of and remedies for, sustained house price inflation. This paper examines the evidence base underpinning such debates, and the policy claims made by key commentators and stakeholders. With reference to the wider context of Australia’s housing market over a 20 year period, as well as an in depth analysis of a research paper by Australia’s central Reserve Bank, we show how economic theories commonly position land use planning as a primary driver of new supply constraints but overlook other explanations for housing market behavior. In doing so, we offer an alternative understanding of urban housing markets and land use planning interventions as a basis for more effective policy intervention in Australian and other world cities.


Empirica ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 47 (4) ◽  
pp. 835-861
Author(s):  
Maciej Ryczkowski

Abstract I analyse the link between money and credit for twelve industrialized countries in the time period from 1970 to 2016. The euro area and Commonwealth Countries have rather strong co-movements between money and credit at longer frequencies. Denmark and Switzerland show weak and episodic effects. Scandinavian countries and the US are somewhere in between. I find strong and significant longer run co-movements especially around booming house prices for all of the sample countries. The analysis suggests the expansionary policy that cleans up after the burst of a bubble may exacerbate the risk of a new house price boom. The interrelation is hidden in the short run, because the co-movements are then rarely statistically significant. According to the wavelet evidence, developments of money and credit since the Great Recession or their decoupling in Japan suggest that it is more appropriate to examine the two variables separately in some circumstances.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ahmad Zia Wahdat ◽  
Michael Gunderson

PurposeThe study investigates whether there is an association between climate types and farm risk attitudes of principal operators.Design/methodology/approachThe study exploits temperature variation in the diverse climate types across the US and defines hot- and cold-climate states. Ordered logit and generalized ordered logit models are used to model principal operators' farm risk attitudes, which are measured on a Likert scale. The study uses two datasets. The first dataset is a 2017 survey of US large commercial producers (LCPs). The second dataset provides a Köppen-Geiger climate classification of the US at a spatial resolution of 5 arcmin for a 25-year period (1986–2010).FindingsThe study finds that principal operators in hot-climate states are 4–5% more likely to have a higher willingness to take farm risk compared to principal operators in cold-climate states.Research limitations/implicationsIt is likely that farm risk mitigation decisions differ between hot- and cold-climate states. For instance, the authors show that corn acres' enrollment in federal crop insurance and computers' usage for farm business are pursued more intensely in cold-climate states than in hot-climate states. A differentiation of farm risk attitude by hot- and cold-climate states may help agribusiness, the government and economists in their farm product offerings, farm risk management programs and agricultural finance models, respectively.Originality/valueBased on Köppen-Geiger climate classification, the study introduces hot- and cold-climate concepts to understand the relationship between climate types and principal operators' farm risk attitudes.


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