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The purpose of the paper is twofold: first, to observe the relationship between sale to list ratio (SLR)/ for-sale inventory (FSI)/ sale count nowcast (SCN) and real/nominal housing value, and second, to produce a handbook of empirical evidence that can serve as a foundation for future research on this topic.

This paper broadly compiles empirical evidence, using three of the most common causality tests in the field of housing economics. The analysis methods include lagged Pearson correlation test, Granger causality test and cointegration test.

Causal relationships were observed between SLR/FSI/SCN and both nominal and real housing values. SLR and SCN showed positive long-term correlations with housing value, whereas FSI had a negative correlation. Adjusting the housing value with the Consumer Price Index (CPI) to derive real housing values could potentially alter the direction of the causal relationships. It is crucial to distinguish the long-term relationship from temporal dynamics, as FSI displayed a positive immediate impulse–response relationship with nominal housing price despite the negative long-term correlation.

SLR/FSI/SCN are housing market parameters that have only recently begun to be documented and have seen little use in research. So far, housing market research has revolved around traditional macroeconomic indicators such as unemployment rate. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is one of the first studies that introduce these three parameters into housing market research.

Private residential construction spending (PRRESCON) is an important indicator for assessing housing supply/demand and economic strength. Currently, there are no comprehensive studies on PRRESCON forecasting. This study aims to address the gap in knowledge by conducting a comprehensive exploration of indicators for PRRESCON using time series methods.

Granger causality test trials were conducted between PRRESCON and all of its potential indicators before the vector autoregression model was implemented. Extensive effort was exerted toward model interpretation in the form of impulse–response functions.

Impulse–response functions indicated that the escalation of labor supply, material/construction costs and issued building permits at any given time consistently had a positive impact on PRRESCON 10–11 months later, with a 95% confidence interval. Conversely, the unemployment rate and housing value escalations at any given time were found to have a negative impact on PRRESCON 10–11 months later in more than 95% of the instances. Furthermore, material/construction cost escalations at any given time were shown to have a negative impact on PRRESCON 7 months later in more than 95% of the instances.

Current forecasting literature on construction spending focuses exclusively on the parameter’s relationship with gross domestic product and the architectural billing index. This study reveals many additional indicators, many of which are directly related to the implementation of housing development projects. The paper is also the first in the body of forecasting literature, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, to conduct impulse–response analysis on residential construction spending.

Housing market is predominantly driven by supply and demand, and the measurement of housing supply plays a crucial role in understanding market dynamics. One such measure is the number of building permits (BPs) issued. Despite the importance of BPs as an economic indicator, direct links have yet to be drawn between BP and housing value index (HVI). The purpose of this paper is to establish links between HVI and BP.

Trials were conducted using data at the national, state and metropolitan statistical area (MSA) levels. For each trial, the Granger causality test was used first to identify causal relationships between HVI and BP. Subsequently, the vector autoregression model was implemented in an attempt to observe impulse–response relationships and to create a forecast for HVI.

Bidirectional causal relationships were observed between HVI and BP at the national, state and MSA levels. The number of issued BPs proves to be an indicator for HVI. Impulse response functions indicate that HVI responds negatively to an increase in BP in the short term of 4–7 months but positively to an increase in BP with a lag of 10–12 months.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper is the first in the body of knowledge that establishes the number of issued BPs as an indicator for housing value. The results drawn using impulse–response function are also novel and had not been observed in previous studies.

The purpose of the study is to observe the feasibility of missing middle housing’s (MMH) realization under density-based zoning, form-based zoning and a combination of both while simultaneously providing affordable housing, improving quality of life and making efficient use of land.

This study takes a theorist approach and designs three hypothetical cottage court projects that comply with all relevant official local zoning ordinances to showcase design feasibility, followed by an analytical component in the form of a financial model constructed using official local economic and demographic conditions.

MMH, and in particular cottage clusters, can be implemented under rigorous density-based, form-based and hybrid (density-based + form-based) zoning ordinances and provide affordable housing (Atlanta, GA), improve quality of life (Blackpool, UK) and make efficient use of land (Jinan, China). All hypothetical projects are financially feasible under reasonable conditions.

To the best of the author’s knowledge, this paper is the first in the body of knowledge to discuss how the MMH can be integrated into urban density-based zoning rather than converting density-based zoning into form-based so that the MMH can fit. The paper also takes a cross-national perspective and discusses the feasibility of MMH in the resolution of housing issues in the USA, China and the UK. The study also concludes that the issue of housing unaffordability in the UK was caused by high construction cost relative to median income.

Housing market research involves observing the relationships between housing value and its indicators. However, recent literature indicates that the disruption of the COVID-19 pandemic could have an impact on the forecasting properties of some of the housing indicators. This paper aims to observe the relationships between the home value index and three potential indicators to verify their forecasting properties pre- and post-COVID-19 and provide general recommendations for time series research post-pandemic.

This study features three vector autoregression (VAR) models constructed using the home value index of the USA, together with three indicators that are of interest according to recent literature: the national unemployment rate, private residential construction spending (PRCS) and the housing consumer price index (HCPI).

Unemployment, one of the prevalent indicators for housing values, was compromised as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, and a new indicator for housing value in the USA, PRCS, whose relationship with housing value is robust even during the COVID-19 pandemic and HCPI is a more significant indicator for housing value than the prevalently cited All-Item consumer price index (CPI).

The study adds residential construction spending into the pool of housing indicators, proves that the finding of region-specific study indicating the unbounding of housing prices from unemployment is applicable to the aggregate housing market in the USA, and improves upon such widely accepted belief that overall inflation is a key indicator for housing prices and proves that the CPI for housing is a vastly more significant indicator.

Most offender narrative being studied has been in oral forms, produced in the reciprocal process of researcher-(ex) offender interviews. This chapter offers an introduction to a variation of offender narrative study within the prison and rehabilitation context: the narrative of written autobiography. Since the early 1940s, Chinese reform institutions have required written autobiographies from new admitters, provided with clear presubscripted guidelines of instructions as well as postcensorship. For this chapter, we trace back and analyse this model based on 28 prisoners' autobiographies in mainland China between 2007 and 2009, as well as archive documents in different historical periods. We have found that the mandatory offender autobiographies are highly functional writings with clear requirements that embody the existing power structure. We have also found considerable commonality with findings in Western contexts on the presence and problems of narrative compliance in rehabilitation. We argue that narrative criminology should further engage in understanding the practice of narrative censorship and co-authorship in criminal justice processes, as it takes on different forms in different historical–social contexts.