Introduction from the Editor - Vol. 2 No. 3

Citation

Reed, R. (2009), "Introduction from the Editor - Vol. 2 No. 3", International Journal of Housing Markets and Analysis, Vol. 2 No. 3. https://doi.org/10.1108/ijhma.2009.35102caa.001

Introduction from the Editor - Vol. 2 No. 3

Introduction from the Editor – Vol. 2 No. 3

Article Type: Editorial From: International Journal of Housing Markets and Analysis, Volume 2, Issue 3.

Housing markets continue to receive widespread international attention at many levels. This includes at a respected journal level such as the International Journal of Housing Markets and Analysis all the way down to a daily printed newspaper which discusses house/apartment prices in a local area. This sustained interest arguably has heightened in recent times due to the global economic crisis and the widespread acceptance that housing contributes largely to the economic foundation of many countries. Examples of this increased interest include efforts of government to ease the discomfort of distressed mortgages, which in turn often have a ripple effect both directly and indirectly on wider society.

This issue of journal introduces a unique initiative for international housing markets which is directly aligned with the core strategic direction of the journal. In this and future issues there will be a section titled “International housing data” which is designed to provide an insight into housing trends in different countries. The type of data, actual countries and timeframes will vary from issue to issue. This information is designed to be a reference tool which provides a regular item of interest and encourages a broad analysis. Appreciation and thanks is owed to the Editorial Advisory Board (EAB) of this journal for suggesting this initiative and special thanks to Gwilym Pryce for feedback regarding the new section in with this issue. This is a good example of the hard work that the EAB undertakes behinds the scenes, as well as reviewing and assisting authors with the many submissions to the International Journal of Housing Markets and Analysis.

This journal is proud to be associated with the ISA Research Committee 43 International Housing Conference titled “Housing assets, housing people” on 1-4 September 2009 as hosted by the Department of Urban Studies, University of Glasgow. There will a special issue produced by this journal which highlights the close links with industry and kindred societies. Suggestions for other special issues or special sections in this journal should be forwarded to the editor.

The papers in this issue are both relevant and diverse in nature from an international housing market perspective. Of special note is the reference to house price volatility and variance in the titles of two papers (“Interdependence analysis of Australian house prices using variance decomposition” and “House price volatility and its determinants”) which is apt in this market. At the same time there are papers on affordable housing (“Nonprofit perceptions of local government performance in affordable housing”) and also low income markets (“Nonprofit perceptions of local government performance in affordable housing”). This is accompanied by a paper on housing associations (“A total change management model for successful growth of housing associations”) and also on apartment dwellers in the USA (“Identifying preferences of apartment dwellers: a case study in Michigan, USA”). These six papers highlight are ideally suited to the International Journal of Housing Markets and Analysis whilst at the same time are relevant to a range of different countries.

This issue of the journal signals an important phase with the introduction of the regular data section. Thank you to the EAB for this initiative and I encourage feedback (r.reed@deakin.edu.au) wherever possible from potential authors and also readers.

Richard Reed