The noughties saw a growing interest in the economics of the housing market, first because of high levels of owner occupation and a house price boom that created severe affordability problems in many countries. Second, the underpinning of the economy by the housing market across the world has been highlighted by the credit crunch and its aftermath. These are some of the issues that are addressed in this book whose chapters began life as a series of papers presented at a conference in September 2008 organised by the central bank of Austria. The authors are economists drawn predominantly from Austria but also from Germany, Hungary, Spain, the UK as well as OECD and the European Central Bank.

Many of the chapters are primarily literature reviews or summaries of policies across a range of countries. A group of chapters examine the relationships between the housing sector and the macroeconomy. Mooslechner and Wagner for example proffer an international literature review that examines the relationships between the housing market and the business cycle, and the impact of differences in taxation and mortgage markets, and the role of monetary policy. Arestis and Karakitsos are concerned with the links between the American subprime mortgage market problems and the international financial crisis and offer an alternative perspective on the crisis. The focus is primarily on the USA but with some reference to the UK. It is written in a very technical style, discussing financial liberalisation/innovations, including details of Collateralised Debt Obligations and Securitised Investment Vehicles markets and the role of central banks in monetary policy. The chapter argues for monetary policies aimed at targeting the net wealth of the personal sector rather than just interest rates. This theme is reprised by Andre and Girouard who look at housing wealth effects on the macroeconomy across OECD countries, drawing out in particular the role of tax incentives toward owner occupation.

Springler and Wagner look at the determinants of home ownership in different countries and the role of the state through housing finance systems and taxation. The following panel regression on selected countries owner occupation levels based on this analysis for the years between 1997 and 2006 is of limited usefulness. In fact, the complexity of the issue is illustrated by Wolswijk who gives a summary of the taxing of housing in the EU, including taxes on imputed rent and capital gains, the deduction of mortgage interest against tax and VAT on new housing. Other fiscal measures that could be considered are also reviewed as forms of fiscal fine tuning via the housing market to influence the economy. Both chapters do not refer to housing supply issues or housing policy, so with missing variables there are questions over their conclusions.

There are two chapters that focus on the private rented sector. Gsatch stresses the macroeconomic role of the private rented sector through consumer spending differences between tenants and owner occupiers, although the conclusions are conjectural rather than definitive. Pareja-Eastaway and Sanchez-Martinez take a comparative EU perspective on tenure patterns and following a well-worn discussion on impacts of rent control focus on the Spanish rented sector. The chapter highlights that Spanish government policy promotes owner occupation with virtually no social housing, and it maps three phases of rent regulation since the Second World War. It argues that the outcome of government policy is a severe affordability problem especially for young people even though there a lack of scarcity in the housing system.

The development of housing markets in transitional economies following the dissolution of the east European soviet bloc with specific reference to Hungary is presented by Hegedus. The chapter details how successive governments have addressed the challenges of rebuilding the housing finance system, restructuring social housing and renewing the housing stock, including the consequences of give-away privatisation and the establishment of markets with conflicts and problems. The chapter argues that although the transitional economies had a common point of origin and the same global challenges, there have been different housing policy responses reflecting historic economic and political institutions.

There are two chapters that examine data issues about the use of house price indices. The first by Murphy takes the form of a lesson on how to construct a house price index drawing on| the experience of the USA and UK. The next chapter by Eiglsperger shows why this is needed as it provides details on how house prices are constructed in the Euro area – drawing out frequency, period covered, the extent of the housing market covered and their representativeness, and hence limitations. Both address some quite technical issues such as the advantages and disadvantages of repeat sales indices.

The final chapter by Fessler et al. focuses on Austria and the saving behaviour of different types of households, distinguishing between housing and financial wealth and therefore what we can learn about financial stability using national household studies. Unlike the other chapters, this study considers microeconomic data and finds that the level of indebtedness in the country is not only low, but concentrated in the affluent so it does not pose a threat to financial stability.

Collections of this type often have diverse contributions and these are quite disparate. The introductory chapter by the editors does not explain the internal logic or present a coherent message from the book. With little reference between contributions, the book can only be judged by its individual chapters. Many of the chapters are syntheses of existing research, but do not develop clear arguments. With regard to the interaction between the housing market and the macroeconomy, the book represents a starting point for research rather than a conclusion. However, the book provides a useful resource for international comparative housing research. It also gives insights on countries such as Austria, Spain and Hungary that often are not the focus of published studies.