Acknowledgments
1 Introduction

Heterogeneity

Durability

Spatial Fixity

Housing Starts

Housing Conditions

The Price of Housing

Mortgages and the Mortgage Market

2 The Demand for Housing

Housing as a Standard Commodity

Housing as a Heterogeneous Commodity

Tenure Choice

Housing in a Spatial Context

3 The Supply of Housing

Housing as a Standard Commodity: Long-Run Supply

The Investment Decision

Durable Housing Stock: Short- and Medium-Run Supply

Heterogeneous Housing Supply

Supply in a Spatial Housing Market

4 Models of the Housing Market

Housing as a Standard Commodity

Housing as a Heterogeneous Commodity: Hedonic Price Equations

Filtering in Housing Markets

A Spatial Housing Market

5 Housing and Mortgage Markets in the National Economy

Housing Starts and Fluctuations

Housing Fluctuations and Macroeconomic Fluctuations

Housing in a General Equilibrium Model

The Mortgage Market

Housing, Mortgage Markets, and Inflation

6 The Economic Rationale for Housing Policy

The Social Welfare Function

Pareto Efficiency

The Role for Government

Public Choice Analysis

7 Policies to Achieve Equity

Income Distribution

Merit Goods

Direct Consumption Externalities (Donor Preferences)

Other Equity Issues

8 Policies to Achieve Pareto Efficiency

Competitive Markets

Externalities

Uncertainty

Stabilization of Fluctuations

9 Housing Policy in Canada

Federal Housing Policy

Provincial Housing Policies

10 The Effects of Policies

Shelter Allowances

Direct Mortgage Lending

Public Housing

Rent Controls

Income Taxation

Notes

References

Index

Housing Economics provides information pertinent to the fundamental aspects of housing economics. This book discusses the economic theory of how households make housing choices, how suppliers make decisions, and how changes in exogenous variables alter the market outcome.
Organized into 10 chapters, this book begins with an overview of the nature of housing economics and explains why the standard microeconomic models need to be modified. This text then examines the demand side of the housing market. Other chapters provide an economic analysis of the supply side of the housing market. This book discusses as well the housing market models as they arise in a more macroeconomic context. The final chapter deals with the effects of different housing programs on consumers, producers, and the market equilibrium.
This book is a valuable resource for undergraduate students of economics. Planners, urban geographers, policy analysts, and civil servants will also find this book useful.