The book provides a theoretical and empirical evaluation ofdifferent housing finance systems, presenting a collection ofstudies that describe various aspects of selected mortgage marketsaround the world. The uniqueness of the chosen markets lies in thefact that they represent not only different regions around theglobe (Africa, the Middle East, Asia, and Eastern Europe), but alsounderstudied markets in different stages of economic and financialdevelopment. This book examines questions relating to housingfinance efficiency and contract heterogeneity. In addition, itanalyses the securitization experiences in these countries toprovide lessons on how mortgage markets are integrated with capitalmarkets and how particular institutional framework interacts withmortgage markets. Short reviews are provided for each of the selected mortgagemarkets. The review will include institutional aspects of themarkets such as: the size and structure of the market (includingflows and accumulation of funds); a description of the competitionand a presentation of the major competitors (including marketshare, major financial measures, etc.); profitability in themarket, trends, structural changes, the major mortgage instrumentsand their market share, special tax issues, the role of thegovernment in the market, defaults, prepayments, mortgageinsurance, and major regulatory issues. The analysis explores the major existing problems in the mortgagemarket of each country, the current steps adopted to solve theseproblems, possible propositions for dealing with the major issuesin the future, and the implied future developments anticipated inthe market.
The mortgage meltdown: what went wrong and how do we fix it? Owning a home can bestow a sense of security and independence. But today, in a cruel twist, many Americans now regard their homes as a source of worry and dashed expectations. How did everything go haywire? And what can we do about it now? In The Rise and Fall of the U.S. Mortgage and Credit Markets, renowned finance expert James Barth offers a comprehensive examination of the mortgage meltdown. Together with a team of economists at the Milken Institute, he explores the shock waves that have rippled through the entire financial sector and the real economy. Deploying an incredibly detailed and extensive set of data, the book offers in-depth analysis of the mortgage meltdown and the resulting worldwide financial crisis. This authoritative volume explores what went wrong in every critical area, including securitization, loan origination practices, regulation and supervision, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, leverage and accounting practices, and of course, the rating agencies. The authors explain the steps the government has taken to address the crisis thus far, arguing that we have yet to address the larger issues. Offers a comprehensive examination of the mortgage market meltdown and its reverberations throughout the financial sector and the real economy Explores several important issues that policymakers must address in any future reshaping of financial market regulations Addresses how we can begin to move forward and prevent similar crises from shaking the foundations of our financial system The Rise and Fall of the U.S. Mortgage and Credit Markets analyzes the factors that should drive reform and explores the issues that policymakers must confront in any future reshaping of financial market regulations.
In Introduction to Mortgages & Mortgage Backed Securities, author Richard Green combines current practices in real estate capital markets with financial theory so readers can make intelligent business decisions. After a behavioral economics chapter on the nature of real estate decisions, he explores mortgage products, processes, derivatives, and international practices. By focusing on debt, his book presents a different view of the mortgage market than is commonly available, and his primer on fixed-income tools and concepts ensures that readers understand the rich content he covers. Including commercial and residential real estate, this book explains how the markets work, why they collapsed in 2008, and what countries are doing to protect themselves from future bubbles. Green's expertise illuminates both the fundamentals of mortgage analysis and the international paradigms of products, models, and regulatory environments. - Written for buyers of real estate, not mortgage lenders - Balances theory with increasingly complex practices of commercial and residential mortgage lending - Emphasizes international practices, changes caused by the 2008-11 financial crisis, and the behavioral aspects of mortgage decision making
An analysis of current findings on mortgage-lending discrimination and suggestions for new procedures to improve its detection. In 2000, homeownership in the United States stood at an all-time high of 67.4 percent, but the homeownership rate was more than 50 percent higher for non-Hispanic whites than for blacks or Hispanics. Homeownership is the most common method for wealth accumulation and is viewed as critical for access to the most desirable communities and most comprehensive public services. Homeownership and mortgage lending are linked, of course, as the vast majority of home purchases are made with the help of a mortgage loan. Barriers to obtaining a mortgage represent obstacles to attaining the American dream of owning one's own home. These barriers take on added urgency when they are related to race or ethnicity. In this book Stephen Ross and John Yinger discuss what has been learned about mortgage-lending discrimination in recent years. They re-analyze existing loan-approval and loan-performance data and devise new tests for detecting discrimination in contemporary mortgage markets. They provide an in-depth review of the 1996 Boston Fed Study and its critics, along with new evidence that the minority-white loan-approval disparities in the Boston data represent discrimination, not variation in underwriting standards that can be justified on business grounds. Their analysis also reveals several major weaknesses in the current fair-lending enforcement system, namely, that it entirely overlooks one of the two main types of discrimination (disparate impact), misses many cases of the other main type (disparate treatment), and insulates some discriminating lenders from investigation. Ross and Yinger devise new procedures to overcome these weaknesses and show how the procedures can also be applied to discrimination in loan-pricing and credit-scoring.
Available online via SciVerse ScienceDirect, or in print for a limited time only, The International Encyclopedia of Housing and Home, Seven Volume Set is the first international reference work for housing scholars and professionals, that uses studies in economics and finance, psychology, social policy, sociology, anthropology, geography, architecture, law, and other disciplines to create an international portrait of housing in all its facets: from meanings of home at the microscale, to impacts on macro-economy. This comprehensive work is edited by distinguished housing expert Susan J. Smith, together with Marja Elsinga, Ong Seow Eng, Lorna Fox O'Mahony and Susan Wachter, and a multi-disciplinary editorial team of 20 world-class scholars in all. Working at the cutting edge of their subject, liaising with an expert editorial advisory board, and engaging with policy-makers and professionals, the editors have worked for almost five years to secure the quality, reach, relevance and coherence of this work. A broad and inclusive table of contents signals (or tesitifes to) detailed investigation of historical and theoretical material as well as in-depth analysis of current issues. This seven-volume set contains over 500 entries, listed alphabetically, but grouped into seven thematic sections including methods and approaches; economics and finance; environments; home and homelessness; institutions; policy; and welfare and well-being. Housing professionals, both academics and practitioners, will find The International Encyclopedia of Housing and Home useful for teaching, discovery, and research needs. International in scope, engaging with trends in every world region The editorial board and contributors are drawn from a wide constituency, collating expertise from academics, policy makers, professionals and practitioners, and from every key center for housing research Every entry stands alone on its merits and is accessed alphabetically, yet each is fully cross-referenced, and attached to one of seven thematic categories whose ‘wholes' far exceed the sum of their parts
The recent global crisis highlighted the risks stemming from real estate booms. This has generated a growing literature trying to better understand the sources and the risks associated with housing and credit booms. This paper complements and supplements the previous work by (i) exploiting more disaggregated data on credit allowing us to dissociate between firm-credit and household (and in some cases mortgage) credit, and (ii) by taking into account the characteristics of the mortgage market, including institutional as well as other factors that vary across countries. This detailed cross-country analysis offers new valuable insights.
This open access book discusses booming housing markets in cities around the globe, and the resulting challenges for policymakers and central banks. Cities are booming everywhere, leading to a growing demand for urban housing. In many cities this demand is out-pacing supply, which causes house prices to soar and increases the pressure on rental markets. These developments are posing major challenges for policymakers, central banks and other authorities responsible for ensuring financial stability, and economic well-being in general.This volume collects views from high-level policymakers and researchers, providing essential insights into these challenges, their impact on society, the economy and financial stability, and possible policy responses. The respective chapters address issues such as the popularity of cities, the question of a credit-fueled housing bubble, the role of housing supply frictions and potential policy solutions. Given its scope, the book offers a revealing read and valuable guide for everyone involved in practical policymaking for housing markets, mortgage credit and financial stability.
A global look at the reasons behind the recent economic collapse, and the responses to it The speculative bubble in the housing market began to burst in the United States in 2007, and has been followed by ruptures in virtually every asset market in almost every country in the world. Each country proposed a range of policy initiatives to deal with its crisis. Policies that focused upon stabilizing the housing market formed the cornerstone of many of these proposals. This internationally focused book evaluates the genesis of the housing market bubble, the global viral contagion of the crisis, and the policy initiatives undertaken in some of the major economies of the world to counteract its disastrous affects. Unlike other books on the global crisis, this guide deals with the housing sector in addition to the financial sector of individual economies. Countries in many parts of the world were players in either the financial bubble or the housing bubble, or both, but the degree of impact, outcome, and responses varied widely. This is an appropriate time to pull together the lessons from these various experiences. Reveals the housing crisis in the United States as the core of the meltdown Describes the evolution of housing markets and policies in the run-up to the crisis, their impacts, and the responses in European and Asian countries Compares experiences and linkages across countries and points to policy implications and research lessons drawn from these experiences Filled with the insights of well-known contributors with strong contacts in practice and academia, this timely guide discusses the history and evolution of the recent crisis as local to each contributor's part of the world, and examines its distinctive and common features with that of the U.S., the trajectory of its evolution, and the similarities and differences in policy response.
Essential reading for professional investors, risk managers, regulators, central bankers, and real estate professionals, Risk in the Global Real Estate Market: International Risk Regulation, Mechanism Design, Foreclosures, Title Systems, and REITs takes an international look at the ways in which U.S.-style constitutional laws, financial laws, and real estate laws in various countries affect global economics and risk; and analyzes specific constraints that deter market development such as Asset Liability Matching, inappropriate financial products, land title systems, inefficient constitutions and human biases. The sub-prime mortgage crisis (that began around 2006) and the Global Financial Crisis of 2007–2010 disrupted the economies of various countries and exposed many of the psychological, social, and economic problems inherent in the legal/risk infrastructure for mortgages, land title systems, REITs, securitization, and pensions. In this remarkable new book, Michael Nwogugu explains how these processes and statutes are unconstitutional and inefficient, and how they influence demand for housing, real estate prices, retirement savings, household wealth, consumer disposable income, marriage opportunities, job markets, crime, and regional economic growth. The resulting major economic and public health problems have continued to reduce the quality-of-life of nations, and continue to cause permanent declines in wealth, increases in crime and delinquency, high divorce rates, depression, and inadequate job creation, among other problems. The book examines a range of fields—including mechanism design, psychology, risk finance, and corporate governance; and emphasizes Constitutional economics as a distinct dimension of risk analysis. Risk in the Global Real Estate Market makes a compelling case about how constitutional torts increase information asymmetry, transaction costs, agency problems, and compliance costs, as well as inefficiency in real estate transactions. These problems, the book argues, are not unique to the United States, but also affect Commonwealth countries and other nations that have developed regulations that are similar to, or are based on U.S. commercial, securities, and or constitutional laws. Risk in the Global Real Estate Market presents a novel analysis of the sub-prime crisis (that first began in 2006), the failure of securitization (CMBS/MBS) markets, the Global Financial Crisis, and socio-economic problems caused by traditional mortgages and securitization. The book reveals that many of the statutes and processes that define mortgages, foreclosures, securitization, and REITs in the United States (and many common-law countries and nations that have adopted American-style real estate regulations) are fundamentally unconstitutional and inefficient, and have lasting negative effects on consumer psychology, the demand for real estate, price discovery in property markets, economic growth, and quality of life. The book examines the nature of constitutional torts and property rights as the foundation for business transactions and economic growth within the context of risk regulation, interstate commerce, takings, and legislation. Risk in the Global Real Estate Market introduces new theories of consumer psychology and institutional dynamics in real estate transactions; presents new theories of takings, and also surveys psychology/psychiatry studies (based on data from various countries) that confirm the harmful effects of mortgages, securitization, and foreclosures. Using elements of mechanism design, Michael Nwogugu develops new efficient financial products (Mortgage-Alternatives products), and presents a policy framework for a unified “Mortgage-Alternatives” market for the CEE/CIS region and China. He also explains why Asset Liability Matching hinders lending, capital formation and risk management, especially in developing countries.
The Financial Crisis Inquiry Report, published by the U.S. Government and the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission in early 2011, is the official government report on the United States financial collapse and the review of major financial institutions that bankrupted and failed, or would have without help from the government. The commission and the report were implemented after Congress passed an act in 2009 to review and prevent fraudulent activity. The report details, among other things, the periods before, during, and after the crisis, what led up to it, and analyses of subprime mortgage lending, credit expansion and banking policies, the collapse of companies like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and the federal bailouts of Lehman and AIG. It also discusses the aftermath of the fallout and our current state. This report should be of interest to anyone concerned about the financial situation in the U.S. and around the world.THE FINANCIAL CRISIS INQUIRY COMMISSION is an independent, bi-partisan, government-appointed panel of 10 people that was created to "examine the causes, domestic and global, of the current financial and economic crisis in the United States." It was established as part of the Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act of 2009. The commission consisted of private citizens with expertise in economics and finance, banking, housing, market regulation, and consumer protection. They examined and reported on "the collapse of major financial institutions that failed or would have failed if not for exceptional assistance from the government."News Dissector DANNY SCHECHTER is a journalist, blogger and filmmaker. He has been reporting on economic crises since the 1980's when he was with ABC News. His film In Debt We Trust warned of the economic meltdown in 2006. He has since written three books on the subject including Plunder: Investigating Our Economic Calamity (Cosimo Books, 2008), and The Crime Of Our Time: Why Wall Street Is Not Too Big to Jail (Disinfo Books, 2011), a companion to his latest film Plunder The Crime Of Our Time. He can be reached online at www.newsdissector.com.
