5th Annual Demographia International Housing Affordability Survey

Dr. Shlomo Angel, of Princeton University and New York University, one of the world’s leading experts in urban planning writes in the preface to this 5th Annual Demographia International Housing Affordability Survey.

The current efforts to contain the pace of the outward expansion of cities for one reason or another are, at the very least, open to serious question. Referring to land use regulation, he continues:  The more stringent the restrictions, the less is the housing market able to respond to increased demand, and the more likely house prices are to increase. And when residential land is very difficult to come by, housing becomes unaffordable.

This report describes the economic connection between that “smart growth”, “urban consoldiation” policies (prescriptive land use policies) and the unprecedented house price escalation that has occured in recent years in some markets. Moreover, the consequences have expanded well beyond housing. Without prescriptive land use regulation, the housing bubble in the United States would have been less severe; without a severe housing bubble, the US mortgage meltdown would not have occurred and without the US mortgage meltdown, the international financial crisis might not have occurred. It will be important to reform land use policies to prevent similar damage from occuring in the future.

Go now to: DEMOGRAPHIA: Demographics Development Impacts Market Research & Urban Policy

US homes sell for $100

The current state of the US Property market is so dire that buyers are now scooping up homes for next to thing according to a CNN website.

In Detroit and Cleveland, according to a report, banks are unloading rundown homes at prices as low as US$500 (A$750) – and even lower. In Detroit, Realtor.com listed a three-bedroom, one-bathroom home of about 986 sq ft for only US$100 (A$150).

 

Stated in the report “With prices this low, lenders aren’t looking to make any money on the deals.”  Read the rest »

No Australian towns or cities made it into the survey’s list of 87 affordable housing markets.

The 5th Annual Demographia International Housing Affordability Survey has rated all of Australia’s major capital cities as severely unaffordable housing markets.

Australia now has some of the most expensive housing in the world.

The Survey covers 265 markets in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States.

The survey compares median house prices with median household incomes in Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States, and has rated Queensland’s Sunshine Coast as the most expensive housing market in the world. Read the rest »