Search Results
Journal Article
Boom & gloom in housing markets: the sequel
Journal Article
Recent trends in homeownership
The homeownership rate began to trend upward in 1995 after years of being relatively constant, near 64 percent. This article describes recent changes in the share of U.S. housing that is owner-occupied and explores the reasons for the surprising rise over the past decade. Explanations that have been offered include demographics, low mortgage rates, changes in housing policy, and innovations in the mortgage financial market. Of all these explanations, the most plausible one is that innovations in the financial markets increased access to mortgage finance, mainly by reducing downpayment ...
Journal Article
Putting Recent Inflation in Historical Context
Prices for many items were depressed during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, and we see the effect in current inflation reports.
Working Paper
Accounting for changes in the homeownership rate
After three decades of being relatively constant, the homeownership rate increased over the 1994?2005 period to attain record highs. The objective of this paper is to account for the observed boom in ownership by examining the role played by changes in demographic factors and innovations in the mortgage market that lessened down payment requirements. To measure the aggregate and distributional impact of these factors, we construct a quantitative general equilibrium overlapping-generation model with housing. We find that the long-run importance of the introduction of new mortgage products for ...
Working Paper
The tax treatment of homeowners and landlords and the progressivity of income taxation
This paper analyzes the connection between the asymmetric tax treatment of homeowners and landlords and the progressivity of income taxation using a quantitative overlapping generations general equilibrium model with housing and rental markets. Our model emphasizes the determinants of tenure choice (own vs. rent) and the household decision to supply housing services to the rental market. This formulation breaks the link between the rental price and the equilibrium interest rate and, hence, the aggregate supply of rental property responds differently to the direction of rental price changes, ...
Journal Article
Are U.S. Housing Markets Hot, Hot, Hot?
Some areas of the U.S. housing market are hotter now than during the 2002-06 boom.
House Hunting in a Period of Social Distancing
Lower housing demand due to quarantine orders, slowing price growth and mortgage originations, and a historically high housing supply are all hitting the economy at the same time.
Journal Article
Inflation, Part 3: What Is the Fed’s Current Goal? Has the Fed Met Its Inflation Mandate?
Despite recent inflationary pressures, the Fed has historically done a good job maintaining inflation close to 2%.
Journal Article
Was China's Housing Boom a Bubble?
This article investigates the factors influencing nationwide and city-level house price trends in China during the 2000s and early 2010s, considering the country’s significant structural transformation and urbanization. The analysis reveals that "fundamental forces" effectively explain house price appreciation at the national level and in most cities, with Beijing and Shanghai being notable exceptions. Income growth is the primary driver of rising house prices, while population growth also plays a significant role. However, in many cases, the impact of population growth on house prices is ...
Journal Article
The macroeconomy of the U.S. states: on the road to recovery?
Despite the recent recovery in house prices, most state economies have yet to recover from the Great Recession.