IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/coecpo/v41y2023i1p9-40.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Housing affordability and responses during times of stress: A preliminary look during the COVID‐19 pandemic

Author

Listed:
  • Stephen Malpezzi

Abstract

The global SARS‐CoV‐2/COVID‐19 Pandemic has disrupted public health, economies, and housing markets since early 2020. The shock has called forth a number of policy responses, such as moratoria on foreclosures and evictions, attempts to regulate rents and prices, and a range of subsidies on both supply and demand sides. This paper reviews the state of housing markets and discusses the expected efficacy of alternative policy measures taken or contemplated. Recognizing the provisional nature of any paper written during a large and durable ongoing shock, suggestions for additional research are provided.

Suggested Citation

  • Stephen Malpezzi, 2023. "Housing affordability and responses during times of stress: A preliminary look during the COVID‐19 pandemic," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 41(1), pages 9-40, January.
  • Handle: RePEc:bla:coecpo:v:41:y:2023:i:1:p:9-40
    DOI: 10.1111/coep.12563
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/coep.12563
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/coep.12563?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Michael Stone, 2006. "What is housing affordability? The case for the residual income approach," Housing Policy Debate, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 17(1), pages 151-184.
    2. Paavo Monkkonen & Lucas Ronconi, 2013. "Land Use Regulations, Compliance and Land Markets in Argentina," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 50(10), pages 1951-1969, August.
    3. Robert J. Gordon, 2016. "The Rise and Fall of American Growth: The U.S. Standard of Living since the Civil War," Economics Books, Princeton University Press, edition 1, number 10544.
    4. Hacıoğlu-Hoke, Sinem & Känzig, Diego R. & Surico, Paolo, 2021. "The distributional impact of the pandemic," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 134(C).
    5. Malpezzi, Stephen & Mayo, Stephen K, 1987. "The Demand for Housing in Developing Countries: Empirical Estimates from Household Data," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 35(4), pages 687-721, July.
    6. Lena Magnusson Turner & Terje Wessel, 2019. "Housing market filtering in the Oslo region: pro-market housing policies in a Nordic welfare-state context," European Journal of Housing Policy, Taylor and Francis Journals, vol. 19(4), pages 483-508, October.
    7. Glenn Hubbard & Michael R. Strain, 2020. "Has the Paycheck Protection Program Succeeded?," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 51(3 (Fall)), pages 335-390.
    8. World Bank, 2020. "Global Economic Prospects, January 2020," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 33044.
    9. Burns, Leland S & Grebler, Leo, 1976. "Resource Allocation to Housing Investment: A Comparative International Study," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 25(1), pages 95-121, October.
    10. Matteo Iacoviello, 2005. "House Prices, Borrowing Constraints, and Monetary Policy in the Business Cycle," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 95(3), pages 739-764, June.
    11. Whitehead, Christine M.E., 1999. "Urban housing markets: Theory and policy," Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, in: P. C. Cheshire & E. S. Mills (ed.), Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, edition 1, volume 3, chapter 40, pages 1559-1594, Elsevier.
    12. Fetter, Daniel K., 2016. "The Home Front: Rent Control and the Rapid Wartime Increase in Home Ownership," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 76(4), pages 1001-1043, December.
    13. Zhang, Chuanchuan & Jia, Shen & Yang, Rudai, 2016. "Housing affordability and housing vacancy in China: The role of income inequality," Journal of Housing Economics, Elsevier, vol. 33(C), pages 4-14.
    14. Christoph Lakner & Daniel Gerszon Mahler & Mario Negre & Espen Beer Prydz, 2022. "How much does reducing inequality matter for global poverty?," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 20(3), pages 559-585, September.
    15. Morris A. Davis, 2010. "housing and the business cycle," The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics,, Palgrave Macmillan.
    16. Martin Ravallion, 2020. "On Measuring Global Poverty," Annual Review of Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 12(1), pages 167-188, August.
    17. Stubbs, Thomas & Kring, William & Laskaridis, Christina & Kentikelenis, Alexander & Gallagher, Kevin, 2021. "Whatever it takes? The global financial safety net, Covid-19, and developing countries," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 137(C).
    18. Gaspar, Jess & Glaeser, Edward L., 1998. "Information Technology and the Future of Cities," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 43(1), pages 136-156, January.
    19. Robert J. Barro & José F. Ursua & Joanna Weng, 2020. "The Coronavirus and the Great Influenza Epidemic - Lessons from the "Spanish Flu" for the Coronavirus's Potential Effects on Mortality and Economic Activity," CESifo Working Paper Series 8166, CESifo.
    20. Rebecca Diamond & Tim McQuade & Franklin Qian, 2019. "The Effects of Rent Control Expansion on Tenants, Landlords, and Inequality: Evidence from San Francisco," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 109(9), pages 3365-3394, September.
    21. Eichenbaum, Martin S. & Rebelo, Sergio & Trabandt, Mathias, 2022. "The macroeconomics of testing and quarantining," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 138(C).
    22. Wu, Jing & Gyourko, Joseph & Deng, Yongheng, 2016. "Evaluating the risk of Chinese housing markets: What we know and what we need to know," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 91-114.
    23. Richard Arnott, 1995. "Time for Revisionism on Rent Control?," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 9(1), pages 99-120, Winter.
    24. Boris Cournède & Volker Ziemann & Frederica De Pace, 2020. "The Future of Housing: Policy Scenarios," OECD Economics Department Working Papers 1624, OECD Publishing.
    25. Burgard, Sarah A. & Seefeldt, Kristin S. & Zelner, Sarah, 2012. "Housing instability and health: Findings from the Michigan recession and recovery study," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 75(12), pages 2215-2224.
    26. Carmen M. Reinhart, 2022. "From Health Crisis to Financial Distress," IMF Economic Review, Palgrave Macmillan;International Monetary Fund, vol. 70(1), pages 4-31, March.
    27. Wong, Grace, 2008. "Has SARS infected the property market Evidence from Hong Kong," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 63(1), pages 74-95, January.
    28. Lisa J. Dettling & Lauren Lambie-Hanson, 2021. "Why is the Default Rate So Low? How Economic Conditions and Public Policies Have Shaped Mortgage and Auto Delinquencies During the COVID-19 Pandemic," FEDS Notes 2021-03-04-2, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
    29. repec:aei:rpaper:1008560098 is not listed on IDEAS
    30. John M. Quigley & Steven Raphael, 2004. "Is Housing Unaffordable? Why Isn't It More Affordable?," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 18(1), pages 191-214, Winter.
    31. Edward L. Glaeser & Joseph Gyourko & Raven E. Saks, 2005. "Why Have Housing Prices Gone Up?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 95(2), pages 329-333, May.
    32. Sudeshna Ghosh Banerjee & Elvira Morella, 2011. "Africa's Water and Sanitation Infrastructure : Access, Affordability, and Alternatives," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 2276.
    33. Fontenla, Matas & Gonzalez, Fidel, 2009. "Housing demand in Mexico," Journal of Housing Economics, Elsevier, vol. 18(1), pages 1-12, March.
    34. Palomino, Juan C. & Rodríguez, Juan G. & Sebastian, Raquel, 2020. "Wage inequality and poverty effects of lockdown and social distancing in Europe," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 129(C).
    35. Rothenberg, Jerome & Galster, George C. & Butler, Richard V. & Pitkin, John R., 1991. "The Maze of Urban Housing Markets," University of Chicago Press Economics Books, University of Chicago Press, number 9780226729510, September.
    36. Timothy J. Bartik, 1991. "Who Benefits from State and Local Economic Development Policies?," Books from Upjohn Press, W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research, number wbsle, December.
    37. Stuart S. Rosenthal, 2014. "Are Private Markets and Filtering a Viable Source of Low-Income Housing? Estimates from a "Repeat Income" Model," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 104(2), pages 687-706, February.
    38. Davis, Morris A. & Van Nieuwerburgh, Stijn, 2015. "Housing, Finance, and the Macroeconomy," Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, in: Gilles Duranton & J. V. Henderson & William C. Strange (ed.), Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, edition 1, volume 5, chapter 0, pages 753-811, Elsevier.
    39. Robert J. Barro & José F. Ursúa & Joanna Weng, 2020. "The Coronavirus and the Great Influenza Pandemic: Lessons from the “Spanish Flu” for the Coronavirus’s Potential Effects on Mortality and Economic Activity," NBER Working Papers 26866, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    40. Charles Ka Yui Leung & Joe Cho Yiu Ng & Edward Chi Ho Tang, 2020. "What do we know about housing supply? The case of Hong Kong SAR," Economic and Political Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 8(1), pages 6-20, January.
    41. Ammar Farooq & Adriana D. Kugler & Umberto Muratori, 2020. "Do Unemployment Insurance Benefits Improve Match and Employer Quality? Evidence from Recent U.S. Recessions," NBER Working Papers 27574, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    42. Chris Leishman, 2015. "Housing Supply and Suppliers: Are the Microeconomics of Housing Developers Important?," Housing Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 30(4), pages 580-600, July.
    43. Christopher Avery & William Bossert & Adam Clark & Glenn Ellison & Sara Fisher Ellison, 2020. "An Economist's Guide to Epidemiology Models of Infectious Disease," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 34(4), pages 79-104, Fall.
    44. George Galster & Kwan Ok Lee, 2021. "Housing affordability: a framing, synthesis of research and policy, and future directions," International Journal of Urban Sciences, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 25(S1), pages 7-58, January.
    45. Ms. Stefania Fabrizio & Ms. Marina Mendes Tavares, 2021. "COVID-19 She-Cession: The Employment Penalty of Taking Care of Young Children," IMF Working Papers 2021/058, International Monetary Fund.
    46. Lena Magnusson Turner & Terje Wessel, 2019. "Housing market filtering in the Oslo region: pro-market housing policies in a Nordic welfare-state context," International Journal of Housing Policy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 19(4), pages 483-508, October.
    47. Julia Griggs & Peter Kemp, 2012. "Housing Allowances as Income Support: Comparing European Welfare Regimes," International Journal of Housing Policy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 12(4), pages 391-412.
    48. Diane Coyle, 2014. "GDP: A Brief but Affectionate History," Economics Books, Princeton University Press, edition 1, number 10183.
    49. Edward Golding & Laurie S. Goodman & Richard Green & Susan Wachter, 2021. "The Mortgage Market as a Stimulus Channel in the COVID-19 Crisis," Housing Policy Debate, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 31(1), pages 66-80, January.
    50. World Bank, 2020. "Global Economic Prospects, June 2020," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 33748.
    51. Francois Bourguignon, 2004. "The Poverty-growth-inequality triangle," Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations, New Delhi Working Papers 125, Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations, New Delhi, India.
    52. Francke, Marc & Korevaar, Matthijs, 2021. "Housing markets in a pandemic: Evidence from historical outbreaks," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 123(C).
    53. repec:aei:rpaper:1008582843 is not listed on IDEAS
    54. Kay Jowers & Christopher Timmins & Nrupen Bhavsar & Qihui Hu & Julia Marshall, 2021. "Housing Precarity & the COVID-19 Pandemic: Impacts of Utility Disconnection and Eviction Moratoria on Infections and Deaths Across US Counties," NBER Working Papers 28394, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    55. Attila Ambrus & Erica Field & Robert Gonzalez, 2020. "Loss in the Time of Cholera: Long-Run Impact of a Disease Epidemic on the Urban Landscape," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 110(2), pages 475-525, February.
    56. Dean Corbae & Erwan Quintin, 2015. "Leverage and the Foreclosure Crisis," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 123(1), pages 1-65.
    57. Zax, Jeffrey S., 1997. "Latent Demand for Urban Housing in the People's Republic of China," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 42(3), pages 377-401, November.
    58. Donald R. Davis & David E. Weinstein, 2002. "Bones, Bombs, and Break Points: The Geography of Economic Activity," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 92(5), pages 1269-1289, December.
    59. Hanushek, Eric A., 2013. "Economic growth in developing countries: The role of human capital," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 204-212.
    60. Nandinee Kutty, 2005. "A new measure of housing affordability: Estimates and analytical results," Housing Policy Debate, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 16(1), pages 113-142.
    61. Joseph Gyourko & Edward L. Glaeser, 2008. "Rethinking Federal Housing Policy," Books, American Enterprise Institute, number 50499, September.
    62. Philip Lowe & Claudio Borio, 2002. "Asset prices, financial and monetary stability: exploring the nexus," BIS Working Papers 114, Bank for International Settlements.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Charles Ka Yui LEUNG, 2022. "Housing and Macroeconomics," ISER Discussion Paper 1197, Institute of Social and Economic Research, Osaka University.
    2. Danilo Tapia & Marcelo González & Sergio Vera & Carlos Aguilar, 2023. "A Novel Offsite Construction Method for Social Housing in Emerging Economies for Low Cost and Reduced Environmental Impact," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(24), pages 1-20, December.
    3. Emeka Ndaguba & Cina Van Zyl, 2024. "Short-Term Accommodations and Long-Term Housing Challenges in the Margaret River Tourist Destination: A Perspective of Population Movement and Pricing," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 13(7), pages 1-20, July.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Stephen Malpezzi, 2021. "Housing “Affordability” and Responses During Times of Stress: A Brief Global Review," GRU Working Paper Series GRU_2021_011, City University of Hong Kong, Department of Economics and Finance, Global Research Unit.
    2. Charles Ka Yui LEUNG, 2022. "Housing and Macroeconomics," ISER Discussion Paper 1197, Institute of Social and Economic Research, Osaka University.
    3. Karmali,Nadeem M. & Aline Weng, 2022. "Housing Demand and Affordability in India : Implications for Housing Policy," Policy Research Working Paper Series 10031, The World Bank.
    4. Bertrand Achou & Hippolyte d'Albis & Eleni Iliopulos, 2021. "Real Estate and Rental Markets during Covid Times," Documents de recherche 21-02, Centre d'Études des Politiques Économiques (EPEE), Université d'Evry Val d'Essonne.
    5. Evan Mast, 2019. "The Effect of New Market-Rate Housing Construction on the Low-Income Housing Market," Upjohn Working Papers 19-307, W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research.
    6. Bertrand Achou & Hippolyte d'Albis & Eleni Iliopulo, 2021. "House prices and rents: a reappraisal," Cahiers de recherche / Working Papers 6, Institut sur la retraite et l'épargne / Retirement and Savings Institute.
    7. Mast, Evan, 2023. "JUE Insight: The effect of new market-rate housing construction on the low-income housing market," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 133(C).
    8. Charles Ka Yui Leung & Joe Cho Yiu Ng, 2018. "Macro Aspects of Housing," GRU Working Paper Series GRU_2018_016, City University of Hong Kong, Department of Economics and Finance, Global Research Unit.
    9. Gandhi, Sahil & Green, Richard K. & Patranabis, Shaonlee, 2022. "Insecure property rights and the housing market: Explaining India’s housing vacancy paradox," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 131(C).
    10. Isaac K. Ofori & Mark K. Armah & Emmanuel E. Asmah, 2021. "Towards the Reversal of Poverty and Income Inequality Setbacks Due to COVID-19: The Role of Globalisation and Resource Allocation," Working Papers 21/043, European Xtramile Centre of African Studies (EXCAS).
    11. Carlos Garriga & Aaron Hedlund, 2020. "Mortgage Debt, Consumption, and Illiquid Housing Markets in the Great Recession," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 110(6), pages 1603-1634, June.
    12. Breidenbach, Philipp & Eilers, Lea & Fries, Jan, 2022. "Temporal dynamics of rent regulations – The case of the German rent control," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).
    13. Stijn Claessens & M Ayhan Kose, 2018. "Frontiers of macrofinancial linkages," BIS Papers, Bank for International Settlements, number 95.
    14. William N Goetzmann & Christophe Spaenjers & Stijn Van Nieuwerburgh, 2021. "Real and Private-Value Assets [Gendered prices]," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 34(8), pages 3497-3526.
    15. Beniamino Callegari & Christophe Feder, 2022. "A Literature Review of Pandemics and Development: the Long-Term Perspective," Economics of Disasters and Climate Change, Springer, vol. 6(1), pages 183-212, March.
    16. John Gathergood & Fabian Gunzinger & Benedict Guttman-Kenney & Edika Quispe-Torreblanca & Neil Stewart, 2020. "Levelling Down and the COVID-19 Lockdowns: Uneven Regional Recovery in UK Consumer Spending," Papers 2012.09336, arXiv.org, revised Dec 2020.
    17. Carlos Garriga & Aaron Hedlund, 2019. "Crises in the Housing Market: Causes, Consequences, and Policy Lessons," Working Papers 2019-33, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.
    18. Pasquale Filiani, 2022. "Macroprudential Debt-to-Income Ratio and Monetary Policy Rules," Central European Journal of Economic Modelling and Econometrics, Central European Journal of Economic Modelling and Econometrics, vol. 14(2), pages 161-198, June.
    19. Carlos Garriga & Aaron Hedlund & Yang Tang & Ping Wang, 2023. "Rural-Urban Migration, Structural Transformation, and Housing Markets in China," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 15(2), pages 413-440, April.
    20. Joan Monràs & José Garcia Montalvo, 2021. "The effect of second generation rent controls: New evidence from Catalonia," Economics Working Papers 1836, Department of Economics and Business, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, revised Apr 2022.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:coecpo:v:41:y:2023:i:1:p:9-40. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/weaaaea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.