Housing Market Externalities in the Housing Industry (Additional Pages Request)

The housing industry is quite profitable a venture, though it is one that has caused many problems in today's economy, for two main reasons. First, the housing market has been quite volatile, simply because it has been under-regulated in certain areas and has therefore been the subject of a game of chess led by big corporations. Second, the housing industry is often a local matter, and is thus something that cannot be easily moved, transported, or transplanted, and for this reason it is in many ways unique. In order to better understand the way in which this industry works, this paper will discuss externalities, goods and services within this arena, as well as the many other concepts that relate to these terms.

Just as many other sectors of an economy, the housing industry is subject to positive and negative externalities. Externalities, by definition, signify costs or benefits that are not transmitted through prices, but that are nonetheless incurred by a 'third party' or a party that did not agree to...

Within these confines, thus, positive externalities become (external) benefits, and negative externalities become (external) costs. These economic terms are useful because they help people understand and justify cases in which individuals may either be harmed by or benefit from the actions of others (Basic Economics, 2012). These are particularly important in the housing market, where positive externalities signify a good neighbor moving in and improving his house, thereby improving the neighborhood, or a recession settling in and making a neighborhood unprofitable to those who want to sell their house. Though in the latter example specifically the individuals who want to sell their house had nothing to do with what caused the recession, they are nonetheless affected by it; therefore, this can be called a negative externality.
It is also important to recognize, when aiming to understand how the housing industry functions, whether the goods or services provided by this industry are public or private, and whether…