Seventh ReCapNet Conference at ZEW on Real Estate Markets and Macroeconomic Stability
Dates and News
What exactly were the reasons for the US mortgage and real estate crisis? Has the Federal Reserve Bank's (FED) unconventional monetary policy succeeded in restoring private investors' confidence in the US real estate market? This was one of many issues discussed by about 30 international participants at the seventh Annual Conference of the Leibniz Network "Real Estate Markets and Capital Markets" (ReCapNet). The conference took place at ZEW in Mannheim on November 6 and 7, 2015.
The main theme of this year’s conference was the link between real estate, financial stability and the macroeconomy. In 14 lectures, international researchers presented hypotheses and findings on the links between real estate markets, the granting of credit and macroeconomic stability. Another point of discussion were the economic effects of "macroprudential policies", that is, policies that comprehensively identify, assess and contain risks for the entire financial system.
FED economist provides insight into the US real estate bubble
In his keynote speech, Kevin Lansing, economist at the Federal Reserve Bank in San Francisco, analysed the boom-and-bust-cycle of the US housing market, which is comparable to a speculative bubble, by means of a theoretical asset pricing model. He stressed the role of private home buyers' expectations formation: When house prices were reaching all-time highs, buyers' expectations of returns were unrealistically optimistic, since they were guided by the price increases in the preceding years. Considered in isolation, the permanently low level of mortgage rates – as can be observed in Germany at the moment – proved inadequate to explain the boom-bust-cycle.
Follow-up conference scheduled for autumn 2016
The ReCapNet Conference once again offered researchers an excellent platform for exchange in the fields of real estate and financial market research. During their two-day stay in Mannheim, the international guests and ZEW economists from the "International Finance and Financial Management" Research Department had the chance to establish networks and share knowledge in various discussion rounds. The 8th ReCapNet Conference is scheduled for autumn 2016 at ZEW.