The Role of Government in the Housing Market , The Experiences from Asia

The diversity of Asia provides unique opportunities for examining the effectiveness of different policies and instruments. The Asian financial crisis reveals our ignorance of market operations and makes us to rethink the Asian economic environment in which the markets operate and the performance of particular sectoral markets. Housing markets are very important areas.

Better policy design relies on better understanding of housing markets. The impact of sub-prime housing mortgage lending in USA on the global capital market and global economy further illustrates the importance of housing issues. This report examines the operation and performance of housing markets and particularly the impact of government intervention on the pergormance of housing markets in Asia.

It presents different approaches and instruments used by different countries to deal with similar housing issues. The Asian experiences and practices can provide inspiration for other parts of the world to design effective and equitable housing instruments and policies.