A new look at urban land prices
Abstract Estimates of Sydney land prices since 1973 are presented and their policy implications reviewed. They refer to annual average sales' prices of raw land and allotments in two types of fringe locality — one with and one without planned urban development. Prices were similar in both locations, and in real terms, were not rising.
The Cost of Housing
Poor quality, unaffordable, or crowded housing has a negative impact on children’s physical health, development, and emotional well-being and on a family’s ability to meet a child’s basic needs. Children who live in families with cost burdens may live in low-quality and overcrowded housing and move frequently, all of which have been linked to lower educational achievement and increased risk of homelessness. In 2018, a worker would have to earn $31.17 an hour and work 40 hours a week year-round to be able to afford the average rent in Rhode Island without a cost burden. This hourly wage is more than three times the 2018 minimum wage of $10.10 per hour. In 2017, Rhode Island required the 18th highest hourly wage to afford the rent for a two-bedroom home of any state. In 2018, the Area Median Income for families in Rhode Island was $81,384. Families with this income can afford to purchase a median-priced, single-family home in 16 of the 39 communities in the state. In 2017, the median cost of a single-family home in Rhode Island was $255,000, 25% higher than in 2012, but still 22% lower than in 2007. Federally-funded Section 8 Housing Choice rental vouchers can help lowincome individuals and families afford the cost of housing; however, there are not enough vouchers to meet the need. Long waiting periods are common and housing authorities may close waiting lists when there are more families on the list than can be helped in the near future. Rhode Island’s FY 2015 budget increased the real estate conveyance tax and created a dedicated funding stream for housing subsidies as well as homelessness prevention, housing retention, and lead abatement. Rhode Island invests $5.21 per capita in affordable homes, compared to neighboring Massachusetts which invests $100.12 per capita, 20 times as much. Rhode Island State Law establishes a goal that 10% of every community’s housing stock qualify as Lowand Moderate-Income Housing. Currently, only six of Rhode Island’s 39 cities and towns meet that goal. Source: Rhode Island Housing, Rhode Island Rent Surveys, 2014-2018. Rents include adjustments for the cost of heat, cooking fuel, electricity, and hot water. Adjustments for utilities for each year vary according to HUD annual utility allowances.
The Law of Failure
If a broker-dealer liquidates in federal bankruptcy court, why does an insurance company liquidate in state court, and a bank outside of court altogether? Why do some businesses re-organize under state law 'assignments', rather than the more well-known Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code? Why do some laws use the language of bankruptcy but without advancing policy goals of the Bankruptcy Code? In this illuminating work, Stephen J. Lubben tackles these questions and many others related to the collective law of business insolvency in the United States. In the first book of its kind, Lubben notes the broad similarities between the many insolvency systems in the United States while describing the fundamental differences lurking therein. By considering the whole sweep of these laws - running the gamut from Chapter 11 to obscure receivership provisions of the National Bank Act - readers will acquire a fundamental understanding of the 'law of failure'.