Editorial

Welcome to the first issue in the nineteenth volume of the International Journal of Housing Markets and Analysis. This issue contains 14 research papers which produce a unique contribution to knowledge regarding global housing markets. The diverse range of developed and developing markets ensures this issue makes a unique and significant contribution to knowledge, as well publishing outcomes which are relevant and useful to the housing research community and related stakeholders. Every paper has successfully passed through a double blind refereed process and credit is given to the academics and industry experts who contributed to this process.The first paper from Vietnam examines the influence of urbanisation on housing prices at the district-based level, while also investigating the heterogeneous impacts across different quantiles of housing prices. The methodology uses remote-sensed spectral images from the Landsat 7 ETM+ satellite to measure urbanisation, replacing prior reliance solely on urban population metrics. A two-step system generalised method of moments is used to evaluate how urbanisation influences district-based housing prices through three spectrometrics: Urban Index (UI), Normalised Difference Built-up Index (NDBI) and Built-Up Index (BUI). Finally, this study examines the heterogeneous impacts across various housing price quantiles through Dynamic Panel Quantile Regression with non-additive fixed effects under Markov Chain Monte Carlo Simulation. The findings demonstrate that urbanisation leads to an increase in regional housing prices. However, these impact magnitudes vary across housing price quantiles. Specifically, the impact exhibits an inverse V-shaped curve, with urbanisation exerting a more pronounced influence on the 60th percentile of housing prices, while its effect on the 10th and 90th percentile is comparatively weaker.The second paper from Turkey uses a novel framework to investigate housing price bubbles in the Turkish economy during the COVID-19 pandemic. Relative to the pre-pandemic period, the probability of housing bubble formation is explored where the possible determinants of housing bubbles are also examined. The methodology used a two-stage novel estimation method. In the first stage, the bubble periods are identified through the right tailed supremum augmented Dickey–Fuller test. In the second stage the determinants of these bubbles are identified and the housing bubble determinants of the pandemic relative to the pre-pandemic period are revealed. The findings show that there is an asset price bubble during the pandemic period in the housing market. Furthermore, the housing sector sales to foreign investors, the mortgage credit expansion, Turkish Lira depreciation against USD could increase the housing bubble formation, while mortgage credit rate does not increase during the COVID-19 pandemic.The third paper examines the nexus between migration-related fears and housing affordability in France, Germany, the UK and the USA. The methodology adopted the Feasible Quasi-generalised least squares method of Westerlund and Narayan (2012, 2015) wherein a predictor can be isolated in the estimation process. Rather than specifying a multi-predictor model that may also lead to parameter proliferation, a single-predictor model (for the predictor of interest) is formulated while also accounting for other salient features resulting from suppressing other important factors that may not be of interest to the current study. Such salient features include persistence, endogeneity and conditional heteroscedasticity issues. The results show heterogeneous responses of housing affordability to migration fears across the four developed countries, as the latter deteriorates housing affordability in Germany and the USA although improves in France and the UK. Similarly, the GFC makes housing less affordable in all four countries as low interest rate passes the mediation test in the nexus.The fourth paper from Pakistan is based on the premise that the adoption of energy-efficient systems is critical for Pakistan to meet its growing energy demand and address its energy challenges. However, adopting the energy-efficient systems in Pakistan was hindered due to several barriers including economic constraints, lack of awareness and social attitudes towards sustainable development. This study examines household energy efficient system adoption and the associated social influences. The methodology used a quantitative survey method to collect data from households. The results revealed that awareness of consequences positively impacted compliance, social identification and internalisation, while perceived consumer effectiveness had a positive relationship with social identification and internalisation. The positive association of social identification and internalisation with attitude was supported but the relationship of compliance with attitude was unsupported.The fifth paper from Turkey, being a developing country undergoing rapid urbanisation and a construction boom in recent years, examined a households’ housing size preferences. Through a detailed analysis, this research delves into the causal relationships between income, education and housing size preferences. This methodology uses the Family Structure Survey as collected nationwide by the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat). To address potential endogeneity issues related to income and education levels in households’ choice of house size, an extended regression model is used. In addition, survey weights are applied to the statistical model to generalise the results of the study. The findings demonstrate that household income correlates with an increase in house size, while household education is associated with a decrease in house size. Variables such as household age, composition and vehicle ownership are found to impact the choice of house size. One-person and couple-only households tend to prefer smaller dwellings compared to others where the influence of household composition on dwelling size varies according to household age.The sixth paper from the USA investigates the relationship between house prices and time-on-market (TOM) in Silicon Valley. The study highlights the discrepancy between listing and selling prices and identifies differences among housing types such as condominiums, detached houses and townhouses based on housing orientations and customer groups. In addition, the study considers the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Fed’s interest rate policies on the housing market. This methodology analysed 63,853 transactions from 2018 to 2022. It used a nonlinear hedonic pricing model to account for endogeneity and assesses the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and Federal Reserve policy changes on the housing market. The findings confirmed the Silicon Valley housing market showed resilience, with low-demand houses giving buyers more bargaining power without significant price drops. High-demand houses, on the other hand, attract more attention over time, leading to aggressive bidding and higher final sale prices. The pandemic, despite reducing housing supply, did not dampen demand, leading to price surges. Post-COVID, price correlations with TOM changed, indicating a more cautious buyer approach towards high premiums. The Fed’s stringent monetary policies post-2022 intensified these effects, with longer listing times leading to greater price disparities due to financial pressures on buyers and shifting dynamics in buyer interest.The seventh paper examines the dynamic spillovers of Federal Reserve’s monetary policy shocks on real house price indices in nine emerging economies, namely, China, Brazil, Thailand, Chile, Peru, Mexico, Malaysia, Indonesia and South Africa. The methodology uses the local projection method with a panel data set of these countries spanning from 2005Q3 to 2019Q4 to estimate local projections at each period rather than extrapolating into distant periods from a given model. The findings concluded a pure tightening monetary policy shock is associated with a decline in housing prices in the nine emerging markets. However, the optimistic information about the USA macro-economic fundamentals that is embedded in the tightening announcement would increase housing prices. Therefore, the net transmission effects of the US policy rate shocks may be smaller than what previous studies reported. In addition it was also found that capital control actions executed by emerging countries are effective in mitigating the spillovers of the US monetary policy.The eighth paper from Belgium studied residential prices and energy usage by combining an explanatory model with the predictions of a predictive model. It is envisaged this will lead to a better understanding of the forecasting results. The methodology presents an econometric comparison between 508,612 selling properties and 174,007 rental properties transacted in Flanders between January 2019 and December 2023. It analyses their prices and energy usage by combining the causal results of a Hedonic Price Model (HPM) with the predictions of an Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average model. The findings show that both markets are extremely sensitive to changes in related factors, whereby selling prices are primarily influenced by macroeconomic factors, but rental prices and especially energy usage are also sensitive to market standards. Policies that target energy efficiency can therefore steer its future trend. In addition, in line with previous literature, the HPM shows an increasingly strong relationship between residential prices and energy efficiency over the years, indicating that steering energy policies also indirectly monitor residential prices.The ninth paper from India explores the complex interplay between technology, personal norms and emotional factors in shaping the sustainable housing choices of millennials in emerging economies. It integrates the model of goal-directed behaviour, technology acceptance model and the norm activation model, incorporating both self-interest and pro-social motivations. Key adaptations involve replacing perceived behavioural control with financial self-efficacy, substituting hedonic motivation for anticipated positive emotions. Moreover, it introduces location as a practical anchor. The methodology used a quantitative, cross-sectional and descriptive research design. A multi-stage stratified sampling technique was used to ensure a representative sample. For the data analysis the partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) approach was used. Bootstrap t-values and effect sizes were used to assess the significance and magnitude of these relationships respectively. One of the key findings of this study was the establishment of significant positive relationships between awareness of consequences, ascription of responsibility and personal norms with behavioural intentions. This underscored the importance of personal ethical considerations in shaping intentions. Perceived usefulness and ease of use were found to significantly influence attitudes positively, highlighting the relevance of these factors in forming favourable attitudes towards behaviors. Attitude, subjective norms, financial self-efficacy and location played significant positive roles. However negative anticipated emotions decreased desire.The tenth paper from the UK assesses the interaction between environmental challenges and policy interventions in shaping housing prices. It emphasises the need to understand how policy interventions and environmental conditions can disproportionately affect housing affordability, population growth and building density, especially for vulnerable communities. The methodology used a panel quantile ARDL regression model to thoroughly investigate the asymmetric impact on a sample of 16 UK cities spanning the period 2000–2023. The findings confirmed that pollution significantly impacts house prices, with cleaner areas experiencing faster price changes. Cleaner air pollution has a greater impact on property prices in cities with cleaner air. Climate policies and superior environmental technologies also influence consumer purchases. Addressing affordability has little short-term effect on house values, but building activity temporarily affects pricing. Investment in clean technology and climate action legislation may boost house prices and attract environmentally conscious households.The eleventh paper investigates factors that contribute to consumers’ intention to opt for interest-free home financing or mortgage adopting the decomposition approach of the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) model. With reference to the methodology, judgmental and purposive sampling was used and over 300 respondents who are using or willing to use equity-based Islamic mortgages were selected for analysis. The findings showed that consumers’ intention towards the interest-free mortgage is influenced primarily by their attitude, subjective norm and perceived behavioural control, but also by the additional construct of their innovativeness of consumers as well as decomposed variables such as perceived relative advantage and perceived compatibility, but most importantly, peers. Overall, the study’s findings show that the suggested model clarifies a better knowledge of the factors that influence consumers’ choices to accept interest-free mortgage financing.The twelfth paper from Malaysia identifies significant factors that motivate individuals to invest in sustainable residential properties. The methodology relied upon a structured online questionnaire distributed among 161 certified green residential property owners. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to determine the significant factors influencing motivations of the selected property owners to purchase green residential properties. The findings revealed that all four variables that were examined (i.e. environmental, financial, cost and social variables) were found significant, while two sub-factors were identified as insignificant namely enjoy lower financing and happiness when looking at green space.The thirteenth paper from Vietnam investigates the interplay between flood risk, financial constraints and buyer behaviour in the housing market. It aims to discern how flood experience influences housing choices, particularly among financially constrained buyers. The methodology used hedonic pricing models and Probit analysis to examine the implicit prices of house characteristics and evaluate the determinants of housing choices, considering factors such as flood risk, financial status and past flood experience. The findings showed that lower house prices incentivise buyers to opt for homes in flood-prone areas, thereby increasing their vulnerability to flood risks. Consequently, financial constraints exacerbate this situation, compelling low-income buyers to accept higher flood risks. However, flood experience fosters risk awareness among buyers, encouraging them to steer clear of flood-prone areas, albeit with lesser efficacy among financially constrained individuals.The fourteenth paper from Malaysia investigates housing preferences, current occupation and the resulting surplus and shortage across various housing types. Data was collected via a survey approach with the analysis focused on quantifying the mismatch between preferred and occupied housing units. The findings revealed significant disparities between housing preferences and current occupation, with some housing types experiencing surplus and others facing shortages. The findings uncovered a 23% discrepancy in housing demand and supply. The sensitivity results indicate that 30% of the respondents currently living in a particular type of housing unit would choose to live there if given the option. The specificity results show that 90% of respondents not living in a particular type of housing unit would continue to avoid choosing it. Housing price, income, race, ethnicity, race and location are the major forces driving the housing preferences.All prospective authors are welcome to contact the editor prior to submission to ensure their paper is in an acceptable format for publication. This includes ensuring the submitted paper conforms to the published author guidelines for the journal which can reduce the time the paper spends in the double blind review process. Please contact the editor directly if I can be of assistance prior to submission and/or discuss the procedure for admission into the review process. If you are interested in submitting a research paper or reviewing potential publications, please contact the editor direct at [email protected]