Standard models in urban economics assume that the boundary of an urban area will expand as long as the present value of land for urban uses is greater than the present value of land for rural uses. Under this assumption, the boundary of the urban area is endogenously determined by the rent paid to rural landowners. But this assumption is not realistic. The physical expansion of many major urban areas in the United States is impeded by an exogenous boundary. For example, geographic growth of the three most populated metropolitan areas in the country is limited by an ocean or a Great Lake. In this thesis, we argue that such exogenous boundaries affect land prices throughout the urban area because inter-city migration is costly and these boundaries effectively constrain the supply of land. Specifically, we develop a theoretical model in support of this conclusion and show that prices are highest in cities with the most restrictive exogenous boundaries, ceteris paribus. This argument implies that researchers who do not control for exogenous boundaries could be introducing a systematic bias in their findings if they use land prices or rents to measure the value of public amenities in urban areas or the relative desirability of different cities.

A rapid urbanization process facilitated an enormous expansion of the cities and stimulated the development of the urban housing markets in China. The primary purpose of this thesis is to find factors influencing the urban housing prices. Based on the supply and demand theory, I examine housing prices in 95 cities in 2010 related to population growth, wages, manufacturing employment, human capital, pollution, and housing investment using a cross section data analysis. The empirical results indicate that all those factors are significantly related to the housing prices. I focus on population growth, a proxy for the urbanization process, as the core determinant to analyze housing prices in China. In addition, the results also find that cities located in the eastern area have averagely a higher productivity than the ones located in the mid-west, and the higher housing prices in the eastern area are explained by the higher level of population growth and wages.

The United States is in the midst of a rather severe housing crisis. Home prices have declined and foreclosures have increased in cities all over the country. The crisis began in 2007 and has continued into the fourth quarter of 2008. Some cities have been severely affected by the housing crisis while others have been able to maintain relatively healthy housing markets. This paper demonstrates the local nature of housing markets and the factors which shape them. Analyses of the local housing markets of Austin, TX, Atlanta, GA and Miami, FL comprise the bulk of this paper and demonstrate the broad spectrum of housing market conditions that exist today. The lessons learned from the three case studies finally lead to some recommendations for local planners which could prove effective for creating and maintaining healthy local housing markets. / text

Housing shortage is a prevalent problem in Sweden. The supply of housing does not meet the demand, which makes it especially difficult for the group outside the ordinary housing market. The need for housing must be met in a long-term perspective.  The aim of the thesis has been to investigate how planning is carried out for the group of housing applicants who are outside the ordinary housing market for various reasons, mainly due to limitations in the private economy and/or due to social aspects. To understand why there is a shortage of housing for this group, it has been examined how the state, regions and municipalities work. Case studies have examined the regional development plan for Stockholm with its visions and goals. The municipality's guidelines for housing supply have also been examined in 3 different municipalities in the Stockholm region, which have subsequently been analysed. Visions and goals in the regional development plan show that it must be planned and built for different groups in the housing market according to their needs. The municipalities have different tools for housing supply that are also used in several ways. In order for municipalities to have the conditions to succeed in housing supply, the regions should receive more support from the state to guide the municipalities in the right direction. This indicates that the supply of housing for the different groups can differ considerably. The extent of the housing shortage for this group is unclear. Previous research also shows that there are no methods for understanding the real housing need and statistics for the existing range. Due to the lack of tools, it is difficult to assess the need and how large this group is. Therefore, it is also difficult to know how much more resources and that more support to the municipalities is needed. It also confirms that there are deficiencies in the system of housing supply that should be addressed.

Housing shortage is an on-going challenge young Swedes face when moving from home trying to get their own accommodation. The vast majority of municipalities have reported a housing shortage in last years housing market survey carried out by Boverket. This study seeks to find out how the housing supply for students in Umeå have developed during the last five years. To achieve this literature studies and statistics from mainly SCB (Statistics Sweden) have been used. Additionally, interviews with the municipality and companies on the housing market have been held to understand their point of view and how they work with the matter. The study shows that the mutual opinion from all parties is that the conditions for students housing supply is better today then five years ago. One of the reasons being the growth of the housing supply while the students themselves have remained at almost the same amount. Although the study suggests a better situation for the students it reveals another present challenge, how todays housing stock might be a mismatch with what students needs and wishes for in their dwellings.

Housing investment plays a vital role in the real estate market. Although the housing investment has been extensively investigated, the application of Tobin¡¦s Q theory is relatively minor. Hence, the purpose of this study is to apply Tobin¡¦s Q theory to analyze housing investment, using quarterly data for Taipei City from 1973 Q2 to 2010 Q4. The Q ratio numerator is the pre-sale housing price and the denominator represents the value of the rent. The empirical model is estimated by using building permits and use permits as measures of housing investment. Moreover, because the housing market is imperfect, this study applies the threshold regression model to test whether different effects exist in the Q ratio. Finally, this study also compares housing investment in five cities. In conclusion, these findings imply that the Q ratio has a positive relationship with housing investment, as well as a threshold effect. Furthermore, the local housing investments are affected differently by local variables.

Real estate industry is a new economic growth point and main industry in Chinese gross domestic product nowadays. This paper analyzes the trend of Chinese real estate market development to help investors to understand the current situation of Chinese real estate markets and policies better, so as to make better real estate investment decisions in China in the future. Because of oversaturated with investment and higher cost of investment there are more and more limitations in investing in big cities in China. With the rapid development of the economy, the huge inner demand of real estate is increasing in medium and small sized cities. Some investigations show that there are huge spaces of the appreciation in Chinese real estate market in medium and small sized cities. The author will describe and analyze the investment strategy and development of Fuxing Huiyu Real Estate Corporation as a case study. The demonstrated company is a public company with rapid growth in a medium sized city named Wuhan in the central part of China. Other investment companies or real estate companies could get some ideas by analyzing the development and decision making process of this company.

The rural inland municipalities of northern Sweden have undergone a massive social,economic, and demographic restructuring over the past few decades which has resulted in a diverse settlement pattern. While little attention is paid to those municipalities, it is interesting to find out how these changes affected the housing stock in this rural area.Therefore, the purpose of this study has been to show what the housing stock looks like in Dorotea, Vilhelmina, Storuman and Sorsele municipalities, in the western inland of Västerbotten County and how those municipalities work with this question in their planning strategy. The study was conducted by using both univariate analysis and documentary content analysis in a mixed methods research. The housing stock in these municipalities of northern inland Sweden has a similar structure, characterised by a high degree of single-detached houses and a very low degree of tenancy and small dwellings. Nonetheless there are a few attributes which differ between the housing stock of the four municipalities. The municipalities show awareness about the problems in theirs housing stock, but the resources for dealing with those problems are limited.

The Swedish housing market have long been debated for its flaws, inefficiencies and regulations which makes construction expensive and complicated. This have created long queue times for rentals and an ever increasing price level for condominiums, especially in the cities Stockholm, Gothenburg and Malmö. Boverket suggest 558,000 new housing units  eeds to be constructed by 2025 to meet the increasing demand. In this thesis I have applied the standard theory of demand and supply on the Swedish housing market using a standard simultaneous equation model with panel data covering the years 1994 to 2012 over Swedish municipalities. The result shows construction costs have a negative effect on supply while population growth and housing prices have a positive effect. Demand is driven by disposable income and population growth whereas a price of housing has a negative effect. With lower future construction costs housing supply would increase more than if it were to be hold constant. Rising construction cost the coming years would have a negative effect on housing supply.

Denna uppsats undersöker hur kommuner arbetar med bostadsförsörjning och vilka krav kommunerna ställer på gestaltningen och utformningen på ny bebyggelse för att passa in i kommunens vision. Många av Sveriges kommuner arbetar aktivt med förtätning av sina redan utvecklade områden. I samband med detta krävs ett större fokus på hur kommunerna ska arbeta med gestaltning för att byggnaderna ska passa in i den befintliga miljön. Samtidigt finns det nationella krav som avgör hur många bostäder som ska färdigställas och att alla olika typer av hushåll, när det gäller till exempel storlek och sociala förhållanden, måste ha tillgång till ett hem. Hur fungerar detta i praktiken? Hur kan kommunerna arbeta för att skaffa bostäder för alla samtidigt som de fokuserar på arkitektur och design? Denna jämförande studie visar att Tyresö och Nacka kommuner har olika sätt att belysa arkitektur och gestaltning. Båda kommunerna prioriterar gestaltning och det visas genom deras arbete med kvalitetsprogram och/eller gestaltningsprogram i varje projekt. Nacka har också skapat en arkitekturpolicy som genomsyrar projekten eller utgör grunden för de dokument som produceras inom projekten. Deras försök att bygga för alla typer av hushåll syns tydligt i de många nybyggda projekt. Hur arkitektur och gestaltning eventuellt höjer boendeutgifter eller på annat sätt påverkar den framtida bostadsägaren/bostadshyresgästen har inte undersökts tillräckligt i denna studie, även om vissa tendenser visar på att en del arkitektoniska krav kan komma att påverka hyresavgiften och bostadspriserna. Det är svårt med resultatet i denna studie att motivera på vilket sätt som arkitekturpolitiken påverkar bostadsförsörjningen och det är en fråga som borde undersökas vidare. Resultatet visar dock tendenser på att kommunerna väljer när arkitektur ska få vara en stor del av projekten och inte. I centrala lägen läggs fokus på detaljspecifika krav och skapandet av en levande stadsmiljö i omgivningen. För de resurssvaga hushållen väljer kommunerna att främst arbeta för att få projekten att passa in i den stora helheten hellre än att ställa krav på detaljer. / This essay investigates how two of the municipalities of Sweden works with housing supply and which demands they place on the design and the formation of new buildings to fit in with the vision of the municipalities. Many of the municipalities of Sweden are actively working with densification of their already developed areas. In connection with this, a greater focus is required on how the municipalities should work with design for the buildings to fit into the existing environment. At the same time, there are requirements nationally which determine how many homes are to be completed and that all different types of households in terms of, for example, size and social conditions must have access to a home. How does this work in practice? How can the municipalities work to provide housing for everyone while increasing the focus on architecture and design? This comparative study shows that the municipality of Tyresö and the municipality of Nacka have different approaches to highlight architecture and design. Both municipalities prioritize design and it’s shown by their work with quality programs or design programs, or both, in every project. Nacka has also created an architecture policy that will permeate the projects or form the basis for the documents produced within the projects. Their attempt to build for all types of households is clearly seen in the variety of newly build projects. How architecture and design complicate, raises prices or in other affects the projects is not clear in this study.  Based on this result, it’s hard to motivate in what way the architectural policy affects the housing supply, and this is something which should be further investigated. The result shows tendencies that the municipalities choose when architecture should be a large part of the projects and not. In central locations, the focus is on specific requirements of details and the creation of vibrant urban environment in the surroundings. For the low-resourced households, the municipalities choose to work primarily to make the projects fit into the environment rather than making demands on details.