Editorial: Introduction from the Editor – IJHMA Vol. 15 No. 4

• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/IJHMA-08-2022-157
• Published date: 17 June 2022
• Date: 17 June 2022
• Pages: 733-735
• Subject Matter: Property management & built environment,Real estate & property,Housing markets
• Author: Richard Reed

Editorial: Introduction from the

Editor –IJHMA Vol. 15 No. 4

Welcome to the fourth issue in the 15th volume of the International Journal of Housing Markets

and Analysis. This issue contains ten research papers from nine different countries where there

have also been a diverse range of research objectives, methodologiesand f‌indings. The countries

and regions are not limited to a select few, therefore including both developed and developing

countries to provide a cross section of the various challenges. The f‌irst paper from Kuwait

examines the operation of the housing market in a country recognised as a major oil producer, is

sensitive to geo-political events and has unusual demographic characteristics. The methodology

used an error-correction model and was based on analysing housing market dynamics and also

the level of sensitivity in the housing market in relation to major local and regional events. The

f‌indings conf‌irmed the market is relatively volatile with evidence of mean-reverting behaviour.

However, when smoothing is undertaken there are more consistent f‌indings in alignment with

underlying fundamentals. The paper also examined the response of the market to seven regional

and local events, where “domestic legislation directly concerned with housing”was identif‌ied as

the single event that resulted in a consistent signif‌icant response.

The second paper from Portugal investigates the effect from a surge in tourism short-term

rentals (STR) on housing prices in the two large metropolitan statistical are as municipalities.

The methodology used a difference-in-differences (DiD) model by using a feasible generalised

least squares estimator in a seemingly unrelated regression equation model. The f‌indings

conf‌irmed the liberalisation of tourism STR had a signif‌icant impact on housing prices in

municipalities where a higher percentage of housing was transferred to tourism. In turn this led

to a leftward shift of the housing supply and a subsequent increase in housing prices, where

these price increases were much higher than observed in previous studies. In other words, the

consequence of allowing property owners to transfer the use of real estate from housing to other

services (namely, tourism) was extreme housing price increases primarily due to inelastic

housing supply. Also it was noted that municipalities with higher exposure to STR exhibited

low housing elasticities, indicating that adjustments to supply shocks in low elasticity markets

were undertaken via price increases.

This third paper from China identif‌ies and examines barriers hindering the supply and

demand of “continuing care retirement communities”(CCRCs) with the objective of

identifying effective senior housing policy measures to facilitate CCRC developments. The

study focussed on Shanghai being a large global city and experiencing a rapid increase in

ageing population and higherdemand for senior housing. The methodology used a multiple-

case study approach where four representative CCRC development cases in Shanghai were

examined. This was accompanied by interviews with experienced CCRC development

managers and also a questionnaire survey of CCRC residents. The main supply barriers

were identif‌ied as operationmanagement experience, f‌inancial risks and a shortage of senior

housing policy support. However, the existence of traditional Chinese family-oriented

culture and also affordability were not the main demand barriers of CCRCs in Shanghai.

With reference to housing investors, future successful CCRC development should be based

on partnering with experiencedprofessional eldercare management companies,provision of

high-quality medical professionals, trained care personnel and quality facilities, as well as

intensive capitalf‌lows to cater for land, construction and operatingcosts.

The fourth paper from Malaysia examinesthe causal impact of international immigration

inf‌lows on housing prices at the state level from 2007 to 2018. The methodology used

Editorial

733

InternationalJournal of Housing

Marketsand Analysis

Vol.15 No. 4, 2022

pp. 733-735

© Emerald Publishing Limited

1753-8270

DOI 10.1108/IJHMA-08-2022-157