Housing wealth and housing portfolios in an ageing society
Academic Paper
27 november 2008
Dutch house prices are higher than ever. Many homeowners have substantial amounts of housing equity and many would-be homeowners take large mortgage loans to be able to purchase a house.This paper discusses the economic literature on housing demand to shed light on these and related topics. It starts with a presentation of some stylized facts about the current Dutch housing market,continues with an analysis of the role of credit constraints and various types of uncertainty, and concludes with a discussion of some relevant policy issues.