Developments in urban housing and property markets

Real estate, encompassing housing, land and commercial property, is a key driver of the urban economy-in terms of economic development, the distribution of opportunities across space and through the evolution of the local built environment. Certain aspects of real estate research are not directly related to urban issues but, through finance and investment decisions, for instance, they do have a major bearing on our towns and cities. Thus, a Review Issue on urban real estate is timely and important. This paper both introduces and provides an assessment of the articles within this Review Issue. First, the paper sets the issue in its wider context. Secondly, it then pulls out the main themes from each contribution before elaborating on the cross-cutting themes that emerge from the collected papers taken together. The final main section outlines a forward-looking research agenda for real estate analysis.