The private rental housing market before and during the COVID-19 pandemic: A submarket analysis in Cracow, Poland

How the COVID-19 pandemic has altered the segmentation of residential rental markets is largely unknown. We therefore assessed rental housing submarkets before and during the pandemic in Cracow, Poland. We used geographically and temporally weighted regression to investigate the marginal prices of housing attributes over space–time. The marginal prices were further reduced to a few principal components per time period and spatially clustered to identify housing submarkets. Finally, we applied the adjusted Rand index to evaluate the spatiotemporal stability of the housing submarkets. The results revealed that the pandemic outbreak significantly lowered rents and modified the relevance of some housing characteristics for rental prices. Proximity to the university was no longer among the residential amenities during the pandemic. Similarly, the virus outbreak diminished the effect of a housing unit’s proximity to the city center. The market partitioning showed that the number of Cracow’s residential rental submarkets increased significantly as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, as it enhanced the spatial variation in the marginal prices of covariates. Our findings suggest that the emergence of the coronavirus reshaped the residential rental market in three ways: Rents were decreased, the underlying rental price-determining factors changed, and the spatiotemporal submarket structure was altered.

A NEW APPROACH TO “THE HOMESTEAD EXEMPTION ACT”- AN ENCOURAGEMENT TO RE-ESTABLISH THE “CASAL DE FAMÍLIA” IN PORTUGUESE LAW

Housing is a fundamental right enshrined in the Constitution. As a structural element of family organisation, the family residence becomes a necessary instrument for achieving the minimum values ​​of human dignity in its family dimension. The Portuguese legal system that constitutionally enshrines the inviolability of the human person's dignity, the protection of the family and the right to housing, attributes a vulnerability to the family residence, allowing it to be seized, with very few exceptions. The "casal de família" institute, which finds its place in the North American Homestead, can recommend a feasible and possible solution to protect the family residence. Under Portuguese law, this institute was in force between 1920 and 1977, assuming the terminology of "casal de família". We will analyse the legal regime of Homestead and the modus operandi of the "casal de família" in Portugal. We wonder whether the Portuguese legal system should again consider the existence of "family property" or "family couple". We believe that such a concept would encourage the family, strengthen its values, strengthen its ties, and solve a pressing social problem, not resolved by the Portuguese law n ° 13/2016, of May 23.

Flexible, Family-friendly: Developing an alternative high-density, vertical housing option

<p>There are many benefits associated with living in low density, detached housing conditions. However, the increase in housing demands have prompted Auckland’s surge of peripheral land to be developed into homes and the amplified cost of housing. Defined as urban sprawl, many of these housing types are standalone and built on private land, as the preferred type of housing. Studies have demonstrated that Auckland families' housing preference is the standalone dwelling. The objective for this thesis is to gain a better understanding of urban sprawl, higher-density and vertical development conditions, and recognise the various family types and their associated living preferences. The collected data influences what is considered family-friendly housing attributes, which are reviewed in three different scales of urban, building and unit. This is with the aim to propose another housing option that considers and addresses a family’s housing requirements, as an alternative to the standalone housing option. The resulting design proposes flexible, expanding and contracting units as a solution to provide families the freedom to adapt their living spaces to suit their requirements. By providing family friendly, higher-density dwellings as a suitable option, this could off set the Auckland families’ preference of the standalone house, which is currently contributing towards Auckland’s sprawl.</p>

Flexible, Family-friendly: Developing an alternative high-density, vertical housing option

<p>There are many benefits associated with living in low density, detached housing conditions. However, the increase in housing demands have prompted Auckland’s surge of peripheral land to be developed into homes and the amplified cost of housing. Defined as urban sprawl, many of these housing types are standalone and built on private land, as the preferred type of housing. Studies have demonstrated that Auckland families' housing preference is the standalone dwelling. The objective for this thesis is to gain a better understanding of urban sprawl, higher-density and vertical development conditions, and recognise the various family types and their associated living preferences. The collected data influences what is considered family-friendly housing attributes, which are reviewed in three different scales of urban, building and unit. This is with the aim to propose another housing option that considers and addresses a family’s housing requirements, as an alternative to the standalone housing option. The resulting design proposes flexible, expanding and contracting units as a solution to provide families the freedom to adapt their living spaces to suit their requirements. By providing family friendly, higher-density dwellings as a suitable option, this could off set the Auckland families’ preference of the standalone house, which is currently contributing towards Auckland’s sprawl.</p>

CONSTRUCTING HOUSING PRICE INDEX FOR TERRACED PROPERTIES IN JOHOR BAHRU, MALAYSIA

Housing is a country’s biggest asset. Hence, the pattern of the housing price index (HPI) is an important topic to gain insight into the housing market while identifying the prevailing housing issues. The determinants of housing price vary for each city and state based on the different characteristics in each location. Accordingly, HPI should consider the property’s quality differences. Besides, national HPI is insufficient and restricted to the housing price at the state level. Thus, the study focused on constructing a specified HPI model for different cities, districts, and states. Effective HPI can give parties a better idea of the current property market situation and act as an analytical tool in managing the sector. Specifically, the study aims to examine the relationship between the heterogeneity housing attributes and housing prices of the terraced properties in Johor Bahru, Malaysia. Additionally, the study provides detailed information on the key determinants of the housing price variation in Johor Bahru. Hedonic price analysis is useful in constructing HPI, expressing housing price as a function of vector property characteristics. Furthermore, HPI is constructed based on the yearly indices and by pooling the data into certain periods. The results show the percentage of variance explained by the factors of HPI for the terraced properties in Johor Bahru. Correspondingly, the underlying correlation between the tested housing attributes with the housing price is explained through the analysis results.

ASSESSING THE STRATA HOUSING ATTRIBUTES FOR ELDERLY TO AGE IN PLACE IN KLANG VALLEY

As the elderly population is burgeoning globally, the number of elderlies in Malaysia has also increased tremendously. Malaysia is expected to become an aging nation by 2030. The elderly in Malaysia prefer to age in place. At the same time, the trend of residing in landed property has shifted to strata housing due to several factors. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to assess the strata housing attributes for the elderly to age in place in Klang Valley. The list of housing attributes is divided into three categories: housing features, housing environment and technology. These attributive patterns emerge from various sources of literature reviews. Eight experts were identified and selected to validate the content based on their background as well as their area of specialization.

Willingness to Pay in Hedonic Pricing Models

The value of a differentiated product is simply the sum of its parts. This concept is easily observed in housing markets where the price of a home is determined by the underlying bundle of attributes that define it and by the price households are willing to pay for each attribute. These prices are referred to as implicit prices because their value is indirectly revealed through the price of another product (typically a home) and are of interest as they reveal the value of goods, such as nearby public amenities, that would otherwise remain unknown. This concept was first formalized into a tractable theoretical framework by Rosen, and is known as the hedonic pricing method. The two-stage hedonic method requires the researcher to map housing attributes into housing price using an equilibrium price function. Information recovered from the first stage is then used to recover inverse demand functions for nonmarket goods in the second stage, which are required for nonmarginal welfare evaluation. Researchers have rarely implemented the second stage, however, due to limited data availability, specification concerns, and the inability to correct for simultaneity bias between price and quality. As policies increasingly seek to deliver large, nonmarginal changes in public goods, the need to estimate the hedonic second stage is becoming more poignant. Greater effort therefore needs to be made to establish a set of best practices within the second stage, many of which can be developed using methods established in the extensive first-stage literature.

An Analysis of Preferences in Housing Demand by Means of a Multicriteria Methodology (AHP). A More Sustainable Approach

This paper examines key aspects of the behavior of housing demand from a sustainable standpoint. Most studies have mainly focused on housing supply, looking at quantitative predictions without considering the qualitative relationship found between housing values and housing demand on a sustainable and microeconomic scale. We used a multicriteria decision methodology (analytic hierarchy process—AHP) for the analysis of preferences in demand, based on the theory of multi-attribute utility of housing, to determine the relative importance of each characteristic of housing and its influence on the decision-making process. For this purpose, we carried out the study over three main groups of stakeholders in the housing market: real estate surveyors, real estate agents, and housing buyers (the latter representing the housing demand). Results show that although there might be some slight discrepancies among the three groups in the decision-making process and the weighting of housing attributes, the three groups agree in most of the process, especially when defining the criteria and the importance that each criterion has on the process of valuation. This study provides important managerial and sustainable implications for the real estate market related to urban public policy, as we highlight which criteria are most preferred.

Study protocol for Prospective RELOC-AGE: A longitudinal mixed-methods study exploring associations of housing, relocation and active and healthy ageing in Sweden (Preprint)

BACKGROUND Background: While housing and neighbourhood features have the potential to impact opportunities for active ageing, there is a lack of knowledge related to how older people reason regarding their housing situation and how housing and fulfilment of relocation are associated with active and healthy ageing. OBJECTIVE Objective: The objectives of Prospective RELOC-AGE are to study housing choices and relocation and explore effects on active and healthy ageing among men and women 55 years or older in Sweden considering relocation. METHODS Methods: The estimated sample (n=2800) will include people aged 55+ being listed for relocation at either of two housing companies: a local public housing company in Southern Sweden and a national condominium provider (NCP). Prospective RELOC-AGE has a two-level longitudinal mixed-methods design and include quantitative surveys (implemented by a professional survey company) and a telephone interview for a baseline data collection in 2021, with follow-ups with the same procedures in 2022 and 2023. The survey and interviews include questions related to present housing and neighbourhood, relocation plans and expectations, a range of perspectives on active and healthy ageing, and demographics. Linking to national registers will provide additional data on e.g., home help and health care use, objective housing and neighbourhood characteristics. The study is registered at ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04765696 [1]. To explore what housing attributes older adults considering relocation find important, and to what extent, when making their decisions on housing, we will develop a Discrete Choice Experiment to be implemented with a subsample of participants. Further, a Grounded Theory (GT) approach will be applied to collect in-depth interview data from participants who have moved to another dwelling, within 6 months after the move. A follow-up interview 12 months later will focus on participants´ deepened experience over time in terms of fulfilled expectations relocation experiences. RESULTS Results: As of submission of this protocol (June 2021) recruitment has commenced with approximately n=960 respondents to the survey and with ongoing telephone interviews. We anticipate recruitment and data collection based on surveys and interviews to continue during 2021. CONCLUSIONS Conclusions: Prospective RELOC-AGE has the capacity to generate new policy-relevant knowledge on associations of housing, relocation and active and healthy ageing. Such knowledge is relevant for the development of proactive approaches to housing in old age on the individual, group as well as societal levels. CLINICALTRIAL ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04765696

Effect of The Physical Characteristics of a Dwelling on Energy Consumption and Emissions: The Case of Castellón And Valencia (Spain)

This research analyses the relation between building and housing attributes and energy consumption and CO2 emissions, considering the spatial dependence present on the Spanish residential market and the different climatic areas. The paper uses a hedonic model with spatial correlation. To measure the spatial dependence, we have combined the Lag Model and the Error Model. The data has been obtained from three different sources and merged in a complex geolocated database, for the provinces of Castellón and Valencia. The results of both regressions indicate that there is a spatial dependence in the sample and a relation between some building attributes and energy consumption and CO2 emissions. The regressions show the existence of low consumption and low emission clusters in the metropolitan area of Valencia and Castellón. Moreover, the endogenous variables indicate that characteristics such as the age, the size, the typology of the house building or dwelling, the use of the surface, or the climatic area have an effect in the energy consumption and the CO2 emissions of the houses in Castellón and Valencia.