Affordable housing risk and returns to investors: Evidence from Australia

The dream of owning a home in Australia is far out of reach for many people. Australia needs more private investments to meet the estimated affordable housing demand as the conventional funding sources like bank loans become further restricted. Responsible investment is an emerging potential source of finance for the affordable housing sector. However, the shortage of information on the risks, returns, and impact evidence regarding the affordable housing submarket and the lack of dedicated investment models, make it difficult to attract investors to promote much needed affordable homeownership opportunities in Australia. Therefore, the overriding objectives of this thesis are to reduce the information gap of investors relating to the affordable housing submarkets, and to examine innovative financial models that connect investors with the affordable housing sector in Australia. The underlining hypothesis of this thesis is that the residential housing market in Australia has attributes that are attractive to responsible investors. With these objectives and hypothesis, the thesis examined the following overarching research questions (RQ) under three interrelated studies. RQ1: Why are there differences in risks and returns of residential housing assets in different price cohorts and regions? RQ2: What are the significant characteristics of the affordable housing markets in Australia that are attractive to responsible investors? RQ3: Is shared equity homeownership a viable mechanism to increase the homeownership rate among young and low-income people? Three empirical studies were conducted under each research question.
Thesis (PhD Doctorate)
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Dept Account,Finance & Econ
Griffith Business School
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