OECD Economics Department Working Papers

ISSN :
1815-1973 (en ligne)
DOI :
10.1787/18151973
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Working papers from the Economics Department of the OECD that cover the full range of the Department’s work including the economic situation, policy analysis and projections; fiscal policy, public expenditure and taxation; and structural issues including ageing, growth and productivity, migration, environment, human capital, housing, trade and investment, labour markets, regulatory reform, competition, health, and other issues.
 

Making the French Housing Market Work Better You or your institution have access to this content

Auteur(s):
Hervé Boulhol1
Author Affiliations
  • 1: OCDE, France

Date de publication
11 mai 2011
Bibliographic information
N°:
861
Pages
50
DOI
10.1787/5kgcd9w73qvf-en

Cacher / Voir l'abstract

Housing plays a key role in the economy, because of its weight in household expenditures and assets, its importance for social well-being, and its impact on educational outcomes and employment as well as on the business cycle. Over the past half century, the bulk of the population has benefited significantly from improved housing conditions. Yet perhaps 5% of families are still poorly-housed, and inequalities in access to housing have widened since the mid-1990s, as soaring real estate prices have produced strong distributional effects. Although the severity of the economic crisis seemed to portend a sharp downward correction, the market has in fact turned around and recovered vigorously in France as in many OECD countries, supported by exceptional financing conditions and policies to stimulate demand. While the risk that prices will fall is non negligible, particularly if credit conditions tighten, the situation in France seems to reflect a shortage of housing supply, concentrated in certain "strained" geographic areas. The key role that housing plays in ensuring the social inclusion of individuals and the many imperfections inherent in the housing market justify government intervention. A crucial question is whether the policies being implemented are helping to correct these imperfections efficiently or whether, on the contrary, they are amplifying them, with possible negative spillovers on employment, economic growth or equity. The general principles underlying government housing policies should embrace three aspects: income-tested assistance to individuals, the most effective instrument because it allows for better targeting; direct support for housing supply in areas of excess demand, especially through the social sector, which should focus on disadvantaged households; and the removal of obstacles that work against market mechanisms, so as to make supply more responsive and the market more fluid and transparent, and to limit the many distortions induced by regulation, taxation and subsidies. This Working Paper relates to the 2011 OECD Economic Survey of France (www.oecd.org/eco/surveys/france).
Egalement disponible en: Français
Mots-clés:
housing credit, housing taxation, housing policies, residential mobility, supply responsiveness
Classification JEL:
  • R21: Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics / Household Analysis / Housing Demand
  • R30: Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics / Real Estate Markets, Production Analysis, and Firm Location / General
  • R31: Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics / Real Estate Markets, Production Analysis, and Firm Location / Housing Supply and Markets
  • R38: Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics / Real Estate Markets, Production Analysis, and Firm Location / Government Policy; Regulatory Policy