High Property Prices Research Articles

Why Is It Challenging to Reverse the Ongoing Decline in China's Birth Rate Despite the Lenient Birth Policies? -An Analysis from Economic Perspective

In response to the potential crises posed by an aging population and labor shortages, the Chinese government took steps to address these challenges after ending the one-child policy. These efforts involved the gradual relaxation of birth policies, transitioning from the two-child policy to the more recent three-child policy. Despite these policy shifts, the persistent downward trajectory of birth rates has shown little sign of abating. This study attempts to analyze the reasons for this phenomenon from an economic perspective; in the pursuit of addressing the multifaceted challenge of declining birth rates, a nuanced understanding of these intertwined economic factors is crucial. These economic elements form a complex tapestry that includes soaring housing prices, the burden of mortgages, expenses associated with childbirth, the costs linked with raising children, and the opportunity cost of childbirth to career women. High property prices make the prospect of homeownership daunting for young families, further compounded by the financial obligations of mortgages. Additionally, the financial implications of education and child-rearing expenses and the opportunity cost of childbirth to career women present substantial considerations for prospective parents, often contributing to the reconsideration of family size.

Mapping urban green equity and analysing its impacted mechanisms: A novel approach

Current assessment methods of Urban green equity (UGE) ignore the social differentiation of urban space, which may lead to a misallocation of green space resources, exacerbating differentiation, and potentially giving rise to green gentrification (GG). This study employs a novel evaluation framework and approach for UGE, considering the impact of landscape and greening on Spatial Differentiation of Residential Areas (SDORA), to evaluate the UGE of the west bank core area in Changsha city, Hunan Province, China, and explores its influencing mechanisms. The results show that (1) The study area exhibits significant greening differentiation, and residential areas with high property prices have higher quality landscapes and greening than those with low property prices. (2) The region displays significant green equity disparity (GEI = 0.497) and GG. (3) The cumulative contribution of landscape and greening to SDORA reaches 39.04 %, with the features of water body and mountain proximity as well as accessibility having the most significant impact on urban green space differentiation. This study enhances the understanding of UGE assessment, emphasizing the importance of considering spatial differentiation during UGE evaluation, and provides technical support and scientific guidance for the planning and construction of urban green space systems.

Analysis on the Development Trend of China's Real Estate Market

In recent years, every Chinese citizen's attention has been focused on the nation's housing market. The rising real estate business in China has made a great number of Chinese people wealthy; nevertheless, the high property prices have also chained the Chinese economy and produced a series of challenges as a result of this situation. This paper will conduct an analysis of the factors that led to China's real estate boom and high housing prices by conducting a literature review and data analysis. It will also offer potential solutions to the issues that have arisen as a result of high housing prices and forecast the future trend of China's housing prices in order to offer recommendations for the balanced and all-around growth of China's economy.

Transformation for Feature Upgrades or Higher Property Prices: Evidence from Industrial Land Regeneration in Shanghai

In recent years, an increasing amount of industrial land has been left idle in China. This gave rise to a wide range of urban issues hindering sustainable urban development. To solve this problem, industrial land transformation has been promoted. However, factors affecting industrial land transformation have not been adequately explored. To fill this gap, this study employs the bivariate K-function to analyze the spatial association between agglomeration patterns of industrial land parcels and living quarters. Moreover, a series of discrete choice models (i.e., the LOGIT, PROBIT, and IVPROBIT model) are adopted to examine empirically complicated relationships between industrial land transformation and its influencing factors. This study argues that the land price and its rising expectations are major determinants of industrial land transformation. The results revealed that transformation-oriented industrial land tended to be located next to accessible living quarters with higher prices. A higher-level industrial park typically had less possibilities for industrial land transformation. The findings also indicated that production efficiency served as a moderator variable to regulate the transformation process. Implications are formulated for policymakers to guide industrial land transformation in an appropriate manner.

A multi-method approach to design urban logistics hubs for cooperative use

Limited availability of public space and high urban property prices make shared logistics solutions highly attractive. The objective of this paper is to offer guidance on the best way to design urban logistics hubs for cooperative use by different courier-, express and parcel service providers (CEPs). The present research used a set of different methods to collect a substantial amount of qualitative and quantitative data. The example of Vienna (Austria) offers real-world data. The research paper identifies suitable attributes for describing different CEP user types and uses a linear optimisation model to suggest an optimal allocation of the shared infrastructure capacity. The optimisation model aims to maximise the total utility of hub space utilisation throughout an average working day. It assumes that the utility increases with the hub’s occupancy rate and the convergence of its CEP user types with the administration’s and the citizens’ vision of future city development. The results show that involved stakeholder groups – i.e. CEPs, citizens and city administrations – have both, conflicting and common goals.

‘We Are Married, but We Cannot Afford to Live Together’: Exploring the Legal Implications of This Marital Phenomenon in Hong Kong

This article explores an increasingly common marital phenomenon in Hong Kong where married couples cannot afford to live together given the high property prices and they choose to live with their own parents respectively. It is submitted that the existing legal regime cannot adequately accommodate this conjugal arrangement, which would lead to some uncertainties and inconsistencies. In particular, the thrust of the legal concern is whether there is a 'mutual household'. The existing legal regime, which is premised on expecting a marriage will have a household, fails to accommodate the nature and needs of these couples. On the one hand, holding that there is a mutual household is inconsistent with the nature of this type of marriage and existing case laws. On the other hand, holding that there is not a common household would in effect allow an immediate divorce, as it means they are separated right from the beginning. This is inconsistent with the overall divorce regime which is designed not to allow immediate divorce.

Harnessing the Real Estate Market for Equitable Affordable Housing Provision through Land Value Capture: Insights from San Francisco City, California

Affordable housing remains a serious problem in many countries. Even as the housing affordability crisis deepens, most cities continue to exhibit robust real estate markets with high property prices. The low-income and poor households are unable to access affordable housing and remain excluded. This paper draws from empirical research conducted in the city of San Francisco and focuses on the application of Land Value Capture (LVC) through increased Inclusionary Housing (IH) requirements after plan changes that increased density potential in San Francisco’s Eastern Neighbourhoods to evaluate its effects on the goals of increasing both affordable housing and social inclusion. Findings reveal that the increased inclusionary requirements used as LVC mechanism enabled 76.2% of all the affordable housing units produced in the Eastern Neighbourhoods to be produced by market-rate developers in 2011–2015 as compared to the rest of San Francisco, where 35.5% of the affordable units were produced from the market through inclusionary policy during the same period. The study demonstrates that upzoning underutilised land coupled with a well-planned LVC mechanism can help harness the strength of the real estate market and increase both affordable housing production and social inclusion.

Upzoning Chicago: Impacts of a Zoning Reform on Property Values and Housing Construction

What are the local-level impacts of zoning change? I study recent Chicago upzonings that increased allowed densities and reduced parking requirements in a manner exogenous of development plans and neighborhood characteristics. To evaluate outcomes, I use difference-in-differences tests on property transaction prices and housing-unit construction permits. I detect significant, robust increases in values for transactions on parcels that received a boost in allowed building size. I also identify value increases for residential condominiums, indicating that upzoning increased prices of existing housing units. I find no impacts of the reforms, however, on the number of newly permitted dwellings over five years. As such, I demonstrate that the short-term, local-level impacts of upzoning are higher property prices but no additional new housing construction.

Mainland Chinese Enterprises in Hong Kong

This paper examines the under-researched subject of the political and economic functions of Mainland Chinese enterprises in Hong Kong. The lack of effective cross-border supervision of these offshore state assets has exacerbated the longstanding principal–agent problem, resulting in spillover effects such as high property prices and worsening corporate corruption.

Food deserts? Healthy food access in Amsterdam

Healthy food environments are imperative for public health. Access to supermarkets that offer wholesome food products at low prices varies across space and over socioeconomic status and ethnic neighborhoods. This research examined food inequalities in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Supermarket accessibility was calculated and linked to property prices and the share of native Dutch people on a geographic micro-scale with a spatial resolution of 100 meters. Mann–Whitney tests and Spearman correlations were used to test differences and associations between accessibility, property prices, and the share of natives per area. The spatially explicit contextual neural gas approach was used for data clustering. The results show access differences in supermarkets in favor of areas with high property prices and those areas with a large share of native Dutch people. The correlations indicate that low-priced areas and those with a low share of native Dutch people have a lower supermarket density, but the results are the opposite when proximity to and variety of supermarkets are examined. The clustering revealed no evidence of undersupplied areas. Pronounced inequalities in access to healthy food could not be confirmed. On the basis of this analysis, there is no urgent need for policymakers to intervene in the geographies of supermarkets.

Global China and the making of Vancouver's residential property market

This paper examines the role of international investment in the construction of a local housing market in Vancouver, Canada. The background political economy included the attempt by Canadian governments to reboot a troubled regional economy through an infusion of activity from the growth region of Asia Pacific. An important investment tool was a Business Immigration Programme (BIP), which welcomed capital and invited capitalists to transfer their entrepreneurial skills to Canada. The BIP was very popular in Greater China, attracting wealth migration to Vancouver from Hong Kong and Taiwan in the 1980s and 1990s, and from Mainland China since 2000. An intricate trans-Pacific real estate market developed, with off-plan sales and offshore marketing of Vancouver property in Asia Pacific, and sales to wealthy BIP migrants at or before their arrival in Canada. House prices have risen rapidly and the detached housing market is now unaffordable to most Vancouver residents. Despite public discontent about the likely role of investors in boosting prices, provincial and local governments, who value the revenues of high property prices and BIP fees, have shown little desire to intervene.

Foreign investments in real estate, economic growth and property prices: evidence from OECD countries

The last two decades have witnessed a growth in foreign direct investments (FDI) in the real estate sector in most of the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) countries. It is argued that FDI in the real estate sector may improve economic growth in recipient economies. On the other hand, property prices have increased considerably in OECD countries in recent years and some argue that FDI in real estate is one of the driving forces of high property prices in these countries. The purpose of this study is to analyze the interrelationship between FDI in the real estate sector, economic growth, and property prices while controlling for interest rate and inflation. We use observations from a set of OECD countries for the period between 1995 and 2008. The dynamic interrelationship is analyzed by applying a panel cointegration technique. Our empirical results show that FDI in real estate do not cause property price appreciations and also do not contribute to economic growth in OECD countries in the short run and the long run.

Real estate market factors and foreign real estate investment

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of real estate market factors on foreign real estate investment (FREI).Design/methodology/approachApplying panel data technique, this paper uses related observations from 31 countries (inclusive of developed countries and emerging market economies) between 2000 and 2008 to investigate the relationships between real estate market factors and FREI.FindingsControlling for market size, infrastructure and political stability, the results for all countries indicate that lower financing costs and higher levels of transparency in real estate market attract greater amounts of FREI. Moreover, the paper finds that foreign real estate investors favor countries with higher property prices. Interestingly, when the paper splits the sample in developed countries and emerging market economies the paper finds that there are some differences in results in terms of determinants of FREI.Originality/valueWhile FREI is a large component of service FDI, currently there are no analyses of FREI determinants across a broad set of countries over time. Therefore, the present study has filled this gap.

Property Taxes and Fees – A Tale of Two Cities

Housing affordability is a concern around the world. Australia and China have different political systems. The former has a western democratic system, while the latter has a communist/socialist system. Despite the difference in political ideology and economy, the people in both countries are complaining about the high property prices problem. There are many factors for high property prices. High property taxes and fees are alleged to be a major suspect for causing high property prices. The paper examines the property taxes and fees for residential developments in these two countries. Sydney in Australia and Wuhan in China are chosen as case study cities. The property taxes and fees in these two cities are examined and compared. It is found that property taxes and fees account for a substantial portion of property prices in both cities. Housing affordability can be enhanced if the relevant governments are determined to reduce the amount of property taxes and fees.

Emerging markets investment opportunities: Cypriot investors and Russian mutual funds

Cyprus is characterised by high property prices, low-yielding government bonds and a decreasing interest in the Cyprus Stock Exchange (CSE) after its crash in 2000. On the contrary, global investors exhibit increasing interest in Russian mutual funds. This paper examines if they could become an alternative investment for Cypriot investors, considering their high, stable returns and low risk. The results show significant gender, age, income and education differences in the investment profile of Cypriots and their attitude towards Russian mutual funds: Cypriots are provided with a worthwhile investment opportunity and Russian mutual fund managers are provided with an excellent target group.

Migration und Immobilienmärkte: Fallstudie China

Migration and Residential Property Markets: Case Study China We have examined the role of migration processes for the development of Chinese residential property markets at province level and have found empirical support of the following hypotheses: Migration between regions bears a close relationship with income differentials. The population shift induced thereby in combination with the disposable level of per-capita income and with urbanization is a dominant factor in the development of regional residential property price differentials in China. The main source of migration processes is the rural area compensating the weak natural growth in population in the metropolis. Conversely, high residential property prices in the conurbations are the determinants of the level of investment activity together with Tobin's q. Migration und Immobilienmärkte: Fallstudie China Wir untersuchen die Rolle von Migrationsprozessen für die Entwicklung der chinesischen Immobilienmärkte auf der Ebene der Provinzen und finden empirische Unterstützung für folgende Hypothesen: Migration zwischen den Regionen steht in engem Zusammenhang mit Einkommensdifferenzen. Die dadurch induzierte Bevölkerungsverschiebung in Verbindung mit dem verfügbaren Pro-Kopf-Einkommen und der Urbanisierung ist ein dominanter Faktor bei der Entwicklung regionaler Immobilienpreisdifferenzen in China. Hauptquelle hinter den Migrationsprozessen ist der ländliche Raum, der das geringe natürliche Bevölkerungswachstum der Metropolen kompensiert. Hohe Immobilienpreise in den Ballungszentren wiederum bestimmen mit Tobins q die Investitionstätigkeit. (JEL R11, J61)

Rovnovážnost cen nemovitostí v České republice

This article, based on an empirical analysis, discusses factors affecting property prices and tries to identify periods of property price overvaluation in the Czech Republic. To achieve this, the article uses both relatively simple approach using ratios related to the house prices (e.g. price-to-rent or price-to-income indicators) as well as international comparison and more advanced econometrical approach. Within this econometrical approach we apply both time series analysis for the Czech Republic as a whole and panel regression for the Czech regions. This analysis identifies overvalued property prices in 2002-2003 and 2007-2008. In 2007-2008, however, the rise in property prices was largely explainable by fundamentals, meaning that the price overvaluation in this period was considerably smaller than that in the first one. From the regional perspective, there is a higher degree of overvaluation in regions with higher property prices. The exception is Prague, which seems to be a specific region - partly due to the properties of the estimation technique.

The Role of Public Works in the Political Business Cycle and the Instability of the Budget Deficits in Japan

This paper discusses the Liberal Democratic Party's (LDP) ability to maintain a majority of seats in the Diet after WWII by focusing on the role of public investment. The paper discusses three periods, namely, (i) the high-growth period (1950 to 1985), (ii) the asset bubble period (1986 to 1990), and (iii) the period of economic downturn after the bubble (post 1990). During the high-growth period, government investment had a strong positive output effect and it increased the tax revenue in the medium and long run. The high rate of private capital formation boosted growth and tax revenue even further. During the asset bubble period of the late 1980s, Japanese tax revenue increased due to high asset and property prices, and growth stayed high because of strong aggregate demand. The Japanese economy experienced slower growth after the asset bubble burst. The LDP continued its high-spending policy by issuing Japanese government bonds (JGB) to finance the deficits but has not been able to revive growth to previous levels. Accumulated government debt now amounts to 180 percent of GDP and it will be difficult to issue any more JGB. Fiscal policy in post-bubble Japan no longer fulfilled the stability conditions that were identified by Blinder and Solow (1974).

The Ricardian Equivalence Versus Debt Capitalization in Local Public Finance

Rational and forward-looking individuals know that government debts today mean higher taxes in the future. The Ricardian equivalence at the national level implies that the burden of the debt cannot be shifted between generations as intergenerational transfers allow the future generation to pay back the debts. We argue that at the local level a similar equivalence holds even for non-altruistic individuals but works through a different channel: Landed property persists over time and fiscal differences are capitalized in property values. Our theoretical model predicts that communities with a more favorable asset/debt structure have, ceteris paribus, higher property prices. We confirm these predictions empirically using a panel dataset for communities in the Swiss metropolitan area of Zurich.

Price Discovery between Residential Land & Housing Markets

This paper examines whether high land prices in urban areas Granger cause high propertyprices or whether high property prices lead to high land prices. A constant quality priceindex is constructed for the urban land market in Singapore using hedonic methodology.A cointegration analysis reveals that the land price and house price series are integratedin the long run and that Granger causality runs from the housing market to the landmarket. No reverse causality was found from the land market to the housing market. Thismeans that price movements in the land market do not filter to the housing market inthe short run.