Lifestyle is a popular concept used to understand consumers' behaviors; however, the lifestyle concept rarely has been applied to housing studies. Although renting a multifamily dwelling is a non-normative housing choice in the United States, many people prefer to rent multifamily housing units for reasons other than financial. The purpose of this study is to identify the housing preferences of multifamily housing residents as determined by their lifestyles. The model of influences on housing choice was used as a theoretical framework for the study. Fifty nine housing activity, interest, and opinion (AIO) statements were developed as a lifestyle measurement for this study. A total of 211 responses were collected from residents of nine selected apartment communities in Charlotte, N.C., through two phases of questionnaire surveys. The respondents were represented by young single-person or couple households with high income and college degrees or higher education. Four lifestyle factors (Well-being, Social, Spaces, and Envirotech) were derived from housing interest and opinion items, and the respondents were grouped into four lifestyle clusters (Community Cluster, Basics Cluster, Home Cluster, and Environment Cluster) on the basis of the lifestyle factors. The relationships between the lifestyle clusters and their housing preferences were tested and the model of influences on housing choice was partially supported. Households in the Community Cluster had a strong downtown-orientation and the weakest perception of homeownership, and preferred to have security features. Households in the Basics Cluster had the weakest preferences for apartment home and community features and the second weakest perception of homeownership. Households in the Home Cluster had the strongest perception of homeownership and relatively strong feature preferences, including preferences for upscale interior design features. Households in the Environment Cluster had a strong suburban-orientation and preferred to have outdoor parking spaces in front of the building, plant watering service, and an on-site car care center. The findings from this study can be applied to the design and management of apartment communities and to marketing strategies that are sensitive to lifestyle concepts. Because of the unique sampling framework, the results from this study cannot be generalized. Instead, it is recommended that further research studies test the housing AIO statements with different groups in diverse markets. / Ph. D.

This thesis, motivated by my reflections about the failings of monetary policy implementation as a cause of the sub-prime crisis, attempts to answer the following inquiries: (i) whether interest rates have played a major role in generating the house price fluctuations in the U.S., (ii) what are the effects of accommodative monetary policy on the economy given banks' excessive risk-taking, and (iii) whether an optimal monetary policy rule can be found for curbing credit-driven economic volatilities in the model economy with unconventional transmission channels operating. By using a decomposition technique and regression analysis, it can be shown that short-term interest rates exert the most potent influence on the evolution of the volatile components of housing prices. One possible explanation for this is that low policy rates for a prolonged period tend to encourage bankers to take on more risk in lending. This transmission channel, labelled as the risk-taking channel, accounts for the gap to some extent between the forecast and the actual impact of monetary policy on the housing market and the overall economy. A looser monetary policy stance can also shift the preference of economic agents toward housing as theoretically and empirically corroborated in the context of choice between durable and nondurable goods. This transmission route is termed the preference channel. If these two channels are operative in the economy, policy makers need to react aggressively to rapid credit growth in order to stabilize the paths of housing prices and output. These findings provide meaningful implications for monetary policy implementation. First of all, central bankers should strive to identify in a timely fashion newly emerging and state-dependent transmission channels of monetary policy, and accurately assess the impact of policy decisions transmitted through these channels. Secondly, the intervention of central banks in the credit or housing market by adjusting policy rates can be optimal, relative to inaction, in circumstances where banks' risk-taking and the preference for housing are overly exuberant.

For the last decades, numerous researchers have studied housing preferences of populations. However, very few researchers put highlight on young adults in Sweden and their housing preference. From a Swedish perspective, it is worthwhile to investigate housing preferences of young adults as the populationof young adults is consistently growing and their roles as dynamic consumers are crucial in the housing market. This thesis aims to examine housing preference of young adults aged 18 to 30 in largest cities in Sweden by comparison to older age groups. By identifying housing attributes highly valuedby the young adults, the research shall provide guideline to practitioners withfuture housing development to attract the young generation. The research is a quantitative study with application of a survey method. Analytic hierarchy process (AHP) method forms a foundation of thequestionnaire design, enabling to observe young adults’ trade-off decisionsamong multiple housing attributes. Total 767 responses are collected and the responses with valid consistency ratio (CR) are selectively used in the analysis.The result demonstrates that young adults have high preference for ‘low price’,‘proximity to public transportation’, ‘balcony’, ‘feeling of safety’ and ‘proximity to work or school’ in a housing decision. On the contrary, they show little interest in ‘neighborhood environment’ and ‘sustainable aspects’ of an apartment in general. In comparison with older age groups, young adults have higher preference for the proximity of an apartment and having a dishwasher;yet their preferences for ‘cleanliness’, ‘green space’ and ‘separate kitchen’ of adwelling are lower than the older generation. The practitioners shall keep these findings in mind when planning and designing apartments for the young consumers. / De senaste decennierna har åtskilliga forskare undersökt boendepreferenser hos befolkningen i ett flertal olika länder. Trots detta finns det väldigt fåforsknings-rapporter som sätter fokus på unga vuxna i Sverige och derasboendepreferenser. Ur ett svenskt perspektiv är det viktigt att undersökaboendepreferenserna för denna folkgrupp. Detta eftersom unga vuxnas befolkningen konstant växer och deras dynamiska roll som konsumenter är livsviktiga för bostadsmarknaden. Denna rapport siktar på att, genomjämförelse med äldre åldersgrupper, undersöka boendepreferenser hos unga vuxna mellan 18 och 30 som bor i Sveriges största städer. Genom att identifierade egenskaper som är högt värderade av de unga vuxna, ämnar forskningen attge riktlinjer till framtida bostadsutveckling för att attrahera den unga generationen. Denna studie är av typen kvantitativ forskning, med surveyundersökning som vetenskaplig metod. Den metod som utformningen av frågeformulären bygger på är analytic hierarchy process (AHP). Metoden används för att observera unga vuxnas avvägning kring många olika boendeegenskaper. Totalt är 767 svarinsamlade varav de svar som har en giltig consistency ratio används i analysen.Resultatet visar att unga vuxna starkt föredrar egenskaper som ‘lågt pris’,‘närhet till kollektivtrafik’, ‘balkong’, ‘säkerhetskänsla’ och ‘närhet till skola eller jobb”. Vidare visar undersökningen att egenskaper som ”grannskapsmiljö”och ”hållbarhetsaspekter” generellt inte prioriteras högt. Vid jämförelse medäldre åldersgrupper har unga vuxna större intresse av lägenhetens läge samt ifall lägenheten har diskmaskin. Unga vuxnas preferenser för ‘renhet’, ‘grönaytor’ och ‘separat kök’ är däremot lägre än preferenserna kring sammaegenskaper hos de äldre generationerna. Bostadsutvecklare borde väga in dessa upptäckter vid planering och design av lägenheter för unga konsumenter.

This study aims to investigate how people's housing preferences changed during the Corona Pandemic. To achieve the purpose of the study, three questions have been formulated: Have housing preferences changed for people during the pandemic in Northeast Scania? How did real estate agents experience the housing market and their customers' housing preferences? Did the pandemic cause greater concern for young adults on the housing market? To answer these questions, a qualitative method has been used in the form of semi-structured interviews with both customers and real estate agents in Northeast Scania. The results of the study shows that people's housing preferences did change during the pandemic, where a larger living space was considered the most desirable. The real estate agents shared this view and saw a trend toward the interest of moving out of the city. Finally, the results of the study showed that young first-time buyers did not find it more difficult to enter the housing market than usual, but their feelings about working from home and involuntary isolation were affected to almost the same extent as ordinary people during the pandemic. / Denna studie syftar till att undersöka hur människors boendepreferenser förändrades under Corona-pandemin. För att uppnå syftet med studien har tre frågor formulerats: Har boendepreferenser förändrats för människor under pandemin i nordöstra Skåne? Hur upplevde fastighetsmäklare bostadsmarknaden och deras kunders bostadspreferenser? Har pandemin orsakat större bekymmer för unga vuxna på bostadsmarknaden? För att besvara dessa frågor har en kvalitativ metod använts i form av semistrukturerade intervjuer med både kunder och fastighetsmäklare i nordöstra Skåne. Resultaten av studien visar att människors boendepreferenser förändrades under pandemin, där ett större bostadsutrymme ansågs vara det mest önskvärda. Fastighetsmäklarna delade denna uppfattning och såg en trend mot intresset att flytta ut ur staden. Slutligen visade studiens resultat att förstagångsköpare inte hade svårare att ta sig in på bostadsmarknaden än vanligt, men deras känslor kring att arbeta hemifrån och ofrivillig isolering påverkades i nästan samma utsträckning som gemene man under pandemin.