Topic Real Estate and Housing

Restrictive Rental Policies and a Tough Trade Off: Lower Rents vs. Less Construction in Geneva

We study how rent control and housing rationing shape housing investment and market tightness in Geneva using a VAR on annual data (1994–2022) with generalized impulse responses and Granger causality. We find that housing rationing functions as a binding quantity restriction as it precedes a contraction in new institutional construction and Granger-causes lower vacancy rates. This increased scarcity ...

The House Price Channel of Quantitative Easing

I study the transmission mechanism of Quantitative Easing (QE) in the form of large-scale asset purchases in the mortgage market to aggregate consumption. To this end, I develop a New Keynesian model that features heterogeneous households, a microfounded housing market, and frictional intermediation. This model helps explain the empirical evidence suggesting that QE increases aggregate consumption ...

Aggregate Lending Standards and Inequality

We study the effects of movements in aggregate lending standards on macroeconomic aggregates and inequality. We show in a New Keynesian model with heterogeneous households and housing that a looser loan-to-value (LTV) ratio stimulates housing demand, nondurable consumption, and output. Our model implies that the LTV shock transmits to macroeconomic aggregates through higher household liquidity and ...

Turnaround in Sight for the Construction Industry; Political Pressure for Action Is Nonetheless Increasing

Real construction volume is expected to decline for the fifth year in a row: A decline of nearly four percent is expected for 2024 and it should fall by almost one percent in 2025. However, the construction industry may manage to reverse the trend in 2026, when real construction volume is projected to grow by two percent. However, this should not obscure the fact that the declines over the past years ...

The Impact of Private Hosting on the Integration of Ukrainian Refugees in Germany

Amid the Ukrainian displacement crisis, private hosting of refugees in Europe has surged, yet its impact on integration remains understudied. This research examines the short- to medium-term effects of private hosting on Ukrainian refugee integration in Germany. Using data from one of the largest non-profit platforms that matches private hosts with refugees, we compare the multidimensional integration ...

Refugees Are Feeling Increasingly Unwelcome and Perceiving Discrimination in the Labor and Housing Markets

The sentiment among refugees in Germany has changed significantly: Using Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) data from 2016 to 2023, it can be seen that refugees have been feeling increasingly unwelcome since 2018, while their concerns about xenophobia have grown since 2019. In addition, cross-sectional data from 2022 refugees’ subjective experiences of discrimination in the workplace and when searching for ...

Property owners have been investing less in energy-efficient renovation in 2024

Despite further increases in heating energy prices, households reduced their energy consumption less

Structural Data on Production and Employment in the Construction Industry - Calculations for the Years 2024-2027

The aim of the study is to provide a comprehensive yet consistent and differentiated presentation of the production of construction services by the construction industry and other economic sectors and the demand for construction services in the form of investments and maintenance measures. On the demand side, the volume of new building construction is also quantified for the areas of residential...

Agents, Landlords and Tenants: Price Regulation in a Thick Two-sided Market

This paper examines the impacts of new policies aimed at reducing the cost of renting by regulating the actions of intermediaries in the rental market. We highlight how information frictions between buyers and intermediaries can give rise to rents in the thick two-sided market. The distribution of these rents between intermediaries and sellers, as well as the impact of price regulation, depends on...