Housing policies of the central and eastern European countries are changing dramatically. Governments as suppliers of housing for the public are being replaced by market mechanisms in the private sector. To facilitate the development of housing markets, establishing well-functioning housing finance systems has emerged as an important policy issue for transition economies. This publication contains selected papers originally submitted to the workshop on housing finance in transition economies organised by the OECD in June 2000. It provides the first in-depth survey of current situations and challenges in the development of housing finance in major transition economies, in particular, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, the Slovak Republic and Slovenia. It also reviews current trends in housing finance in advanced market countries and their implications for transition economies.