International Perspectives on the Direction of Housing Finance: A Meeting in Seoul
In November 2024 I was honored to be invited to join colleagues from South Korea and around the world to participte in the 10th Annual International Forum on Housing & Urban Finance, organized by the Korea Housing & Urban Gurarantee Corporation (HUG) and held in Seoul.
I later had the opportunity to visit HUG's Pusan headquarters, as well as the headquarters of Korea's other apex houisng finance institution, the Korea Housing Finance Corporation.
The detailed program from the conference can be accessed here, including slides from the various presentations that preceded discussions. The program includes updates on South Korea's economy and housing markets, as well as other global perspectives from my friend Marja Hoek-Smit and others.
I was asked to participate in a session focused on polarization, a subject of intense interest in Korea and in the United States; in fact in many countries. My material starts on page 20 of the detailed program; you can also acess the PowerPoint version, which includes many links and other details in the attached notes.
Ironically, several days after the Forum, and after my additional visits in Seoul and Pusan, it was while I was returning to the United States that we recieved word of South Korea's martial law. The duration of martial law itself was brief, but the run-up to that episode was complex, and as of this writing the full implications have yet to be understood.
Global Perspectives on Urban Development and Real Estate: A Meeting in West Palm Beach
In January 2025 we held one of two annual meetings of the Hoyt Institute. The January meeting mainly comprises presentations by newly selected Academic Fellows. This year we added a session entitled "Global Perspectives," which was intended to be a more wide-open particpatory discussion among all participants.
The majority of Hoyt Fellows reside in the U.S., and most are from there. Others have lived and worked in other countries. Whatever our origins, some of us focus on the U.S. in our research, teaching and policy work; others have contributed to these global perspectives. With input from several colleagues, I pulled together a collection of my teaching slides on some basics -- maps, demographic data, GDP, housing, and of course sources of data and references.
Our discussion was wide ranging, and a number of participants made comments and suggestions on additonal topics. After the meeting we added some material relevant to some of these points and questions. You can download the final (?) slides inspired by our session here.
While a bit disjointed -- think the Jeopardy category "Potpourri" -- readers will surely find some material they know well, but also some new tidbits, perhaps some inspiration for a research project or a teaching module. As always, colleagues should feel free to use any of these slides in their own teaching or other nonprofit activities.
