Australia’s National Housing Supply Council State of Supply Report 2008

National Housing Supply Council released its first State of Supply Report. The 2008 report focuses on:

• projections of underlying demand and of land and housing supply over 20 years from 2008 to 2028
• the gap between housing demand and supply and implications for submarkets, with particular attention on affordability issues for lower income households
• a number of current influences on supply and demand, as well as the need for research to better understand how these impact on the housing market
• discussion of data collection and methodology, including the need for more sophisticated modelling, and the need to improve data collection and analysis, particularly on land supply for residential development.

The purpose of this State of Supply Report is to provide accurate information to governments, to industry, to private developers, to public policy makers, about supply and demand issues in the housing sector in Australia. Read the rest »

The Challenge of the Housing Crisis

President Obama unveiled his ambitious plan to help up to 9 million American homeowners. It’s an issue that has resisted easy answers in the two years since the housing crisis began.

Decay is spreading to the upper floors of America’s mortgage market

“Alt-A” mortgages, offered to borrowers sandwiched between subprime and prime.

This market was trumpeted as a means of extending home ownership to those, such as the self-employed, with a reasonable credit standing but unsteady income. Its practitioners specialised in loans with scant documentation and exotica such as negative-amortisation mortgages, which allow borrowers to pay less than the accrued interest, with the difference added to the loan balance.

That Alt-A has troubles comes as no surprise.

Go no to: Economist.com to read the full article