This week, I have a conversation with economist Dr. Kevin Gillen, Vice President of Econsult and is affiliated with the University of Pennsylvania as a Research Fellow in its Institute for Urban Research, through which he publishes his quarterly updates on the current state of Philadelphia’s housing and condominium markets. He’s been sharing his research each quarter with the readers of my other blog, Matrix for which I am grateful.

In the podcast we cover his Philadelphia Housing Indices, as well as the three key economic hurdles facing the Philadelphia’s housing market:

1. Problems with the accuracy and proposed redistribution of tax assessments
2. The controversial 10-year tax abatement
3. Political turmoil relating to the building trades and the associated above average cost of construction.

Much of his commentary is in the context of the US housing market.

Check out this week’s podcast.

You can subscribe on iTunes or simply listen to the podcast on my other blog The Housing Helix.


One Comment

  1. Edd Gillespie May 26, 2009 at 9:43 pm

    Johnathan,
    Thanks for presenting relevant and engaging dialog as usual. I have been looking into behavioral economics since hearing about it on Bill Moyers last week. Didn’t know about such a thing, but it seems to have relevance to our current circumstances.
    With respect to affordable housing, I have been looking at that issue where I am. Our City has a low per capita income and a pretty phenomenal rate of foreclosure. With the tightening lending standards we are seeing unemployment and rental vacancies rise. Our housing is dated and many @ 1910 shotgun 2Br foreclosures hit the REO investor market. Investors then rehab the house and put it back on the market + profit to the investor. I have argued, correctly I think, that the REOs do not belong in the stats of single family housing because they do meet the needs or abilities of low income buyers. Those buyers can’t afford to fix them up, but once fixed the lenders have been willing to lend sub-prime for purchase. Interesting dilemma. Here is a link to an article(s) about affordable housing that take into account more in the indexing of affordability than rents and income. Interesting perspective.
    Take a look if you get a chance
    http://web.mit.edu/cre/research/hai/aff-index.html

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