Housing Markets and Policies

In Singapore, curbing speculative activities in the private housing market is intended to maintain a stable and affordable housing market. Policy makers in countries including the U.S., Singapore and other Asian countries, actively intervene in the housing market to prevent overheating in housing markets. These interventions could take the form of macro-prudential tools that limit excessive mortgage borrowing, while others could include the imposition of restrictions on speculative demand (e.g., Singapore, China). Understanding the governments’ roles in regulating housing markets is important. Studies of how housing markets respond to various interventions could also help evaluate intended and other unintended consequences associated with the intervention measures.

In Singapore, the government, through its agency, Housing & Development Board (HDB), has played an instrumental role in preserving housing affordability via providing public housing at concessionary prices to more than 80% of the residents in Singapore. Studying public housing market and its policies is an important research agenda of IREUS.

 

Proposed Research Projects

Macroeconomic Policies, Behavioural Responses to the Government’s Interventions into Private Housing Markets (By FAN Yi, QIAN Wenlan and SING, Tien Foo)

 

Media Coverage

“Higher buyer’s stamp duty a wealth tax with mixed impact on property market,” Channel News Asia (CNA) Commentary, 25 March 2018 (SING Tien Foo)

“额外买方印花税料难仰制购房势头”, 联合早报, 新加坡财经, 财经特稿, 31 March 2018 (SING Tien Foo)

“What happens when HDB flats with short leases left are no longer assets?” TODAY newspaper, 17 May 2018 (SING Tien Foo 程天富)

“Did the government intervene too early in Singapore’s private housing market?” Channel News Asia (CNA) Commentary, 22 July 2018 (SING Tien Foo and TANG Amanda)

“新一轮房地产降温措施的理性”, 联合早报,言论, 狮城脉搏, 3 August 2018 (SING Tien Foo 程天富 and CHIA Liu Ee 谢柳仪)

“A tale of one HDB flat across two generations,” Channel News Asia (CNA) Commentary, 1 September 2018 (SING Tien Foo and CHIA Liu Ee)

“What a ‘Housing Redevelopment Board’ will do for mature estates,” Channel News Asia (CNA) Commentary, 9 September 2018 (SING Tien Foo and TANG Amanda)

“政府组屋契约到期的窘境,” 联合早报,言论, 15 September 2018 (SING Tien Foo 程天富 and CHIA Liu Ee 谢柳仪)

“A nightmare scenario, Ang Mo Kio emptying out in 20 years,” Channel News Asia (CNA) Commentary, 23 September 2018 (SING Tien Foo and DINESH Namita)

“The future of Singapore housing is in bigger HDB flats,” Channel News Asia (CNA) Commentary, 29 December 2018 (SING Tien Foo)

 

Selected Publications

Agarwal S, Choi H, He J, and Sing TF. 2019. Matching in Housing Markets: The Role of Ethnic Social Networks. Review of Financial Studies.

Agarwal S, He J, Sing TF, and Song C. 2019. Do Real Estate Agents have Information Advantages in Housing Markets? Journal of Financial Economics.

Agarwal S, Marwell N, and McGranahan L. 2017. Consumption Responses to Temporary Tax Incentives: Evidnce from State Sales Tax Holidays. American Economic Journal : Economic Poilicy 9 (4): 1-27.

Agarwal S, and Qian W. 2017. Access to Home Equity and Consumption: Evidence from a Policy Experiment. Review of Economics and Statistics 99 (1): 40-52.

Agarwal S, Satyanarain R, Sing TF, and Yang Y. 2016. School allocation rules and housing prices: A quasi-experiment with school relocation events in Singapore. Regional Science and Urban Economics 58: 42-56.

Coulson EN, Dong Z, and Sing TF. 2019. Estimating Supply Functions for Residential Real Estate Attributes. Real Estate Economics.

Fan Y, Yang Z, and Yavas A. 2019. Understanding Real Estate Price Dynamics: The Case of Housing Prices in Five Major Cities of China. Real Estate Economics.

Fan Y, Yang Z, and Zhao L. 2018. A Reexamination of Housing price and Household Consumption in China: The Dual Role of Housing Consumption and Housing Investment. Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics 56 (3): 472-499.

Fan Y, and Yavas A. 2019. How Does Mortgage Debt Affect Household Consumption? Micro Evidence from China. Real Estate Economics.

Fu Y, Qian W, and Yeung B. 2016. Speculative Investors and Transaction Tax: Evidence from the Housing Market. Management Science 62 (11): 3254-3270.

He J, Liu H, Sing TF, Song C, and Wong W-K. 2019. Superstition, Conspicuous Spending, and Housing Market: Evidence from Singapore. Management Science.

Li Q. 2014. Ethnic Diversity and Neighborhood House Prices. Regional Science and Urban Economics: 19-29.

Munneke HJ, Ooi JT, Sirmans C, and Turnbull GK. 2019. Testing for Price Anomalies in Sequential Sales. Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics 58 (4): 517-543.

 

Working Papers

Agarwal S, Badarinza C, and Qian W. 2019. The Effectiveness of Housing Collateral Tightening Policy.

Agarwal S, Diao M, Sing TF, and Zhang X. 2019. The Political Economy of Public Housing Upgrading Programs.

Agarwal S, Li K, Qin Y, Wu J, and Yan J. 2019. Tax Evasion, Capital Gains Taxes, and the Housing Market.

Diao M, Fan Y, and Sing TF. 2019. Concurrent Ownership Restriction in Singapore's Housing Market.

Gu Q, He J, and Qian W. 2019. Housing Boom and Shirking.

Li K, Qin Y, and Wu J. 2019. Housing Affordability in China: A Comprehensive Overview.

 

Research Team

AGARWAL, Sumit

FAN, Yi

FAN, Ying

SING, Tien Foo