Housing Demand Factors and Implications for Sustainable Housing in Asia: A Retrospective

Abstract

Housing demand studies have been conducted since the 1970s. However, this research has lagged that of sustainability in housing & the standards founded to guide sustainable housing development, especially in Asia. While direct comparisons to sustainable building standards are non-existent, many studies allude to attributes highlighted in sustainable building standards as a factor influencing housing demand. This study is the first to review previous studies on housing demand factors in Asia, specifically those dealing with the characteristics of sustainable standards. It is found that sustainable structural variables have positive marginal effects on housing demand, sustainable neighbourhood variables have mixed effects, & sustainable locational variables have positive effects analogous to conventional variables. However, the exact extent to which home buyers are willing to pay for particular features in sustainable housing remains ambiguous. Therefore, to encourage the uptake of sustainable building standards in the real estate industry, it is imperative that researchers conduct studies into the specific factors determining sustainable housing demand.

Keywords: housing demand, sustainable building standards, green housing, Asia, sustainable development

JEL Classification: R21, R30, R39