EDITORIAL
The 2020 year has been marked by Covid-19 pandemic outburst. We have learned a lot about various channels the current pandemic can affect our society and economics. There are many questions about the global and local consequences of Covid-19 on housing choices, future of the cities, mobility and migration patterns, regional development – both in the short and long run. It will take a while to address them all with due diligence, but more and more research is being published in the mainstream journals, as the empirical data becomes available. Aside from the issues related to Covid-19, many interesting topics need to be investigated. In the current issue of the World of Real Estate Journal, we published five papers addressing a selection of themes ranging from regional development to housing.
In the first paper of current issue, Justyna Brzezicka Marta Gross and Katarzyna Kobylińska discuss the applicability of the Gini Coefficient for real estate price analysis. The paper is based on empirical data from Poland and addresses several methodological questions regarding the real estate price dispersion.
In an interesting review paper, Mateusz Szczepek investigates how mortgage loan prepayment affects the risk for mortgage banks. One of the major issues discussed in the paper is the role of declining interest rates. The author reviews prior literature in the field and comments on some stylized facts related to the mortgage industry in the US, as well as discusses possible implications for Poland.
The paper by Katarzyna Olbińska presents a complex overview of urban regeneration in selected cities in Poland. The author discusses both financial and material indicators and focuses on the relation between the availability of EU funds and the scale of planned regeneration activities.
Maciej Nowak, Desmond Gagakuma, and Małgorzata Blaszke compare spatial management systems in Ghana and Poland. Authors argue that despite apparent geographic and cultural differences, urban pressure, protection of the third parties, as well as environmental concerns are the major challenges for spatial and urban planning in both countries. In the paper, based on a broad selection of criteria, they highlight similarities and differences in the spatial management systems of Ghana and Poland.
Last paper within the current issue was written by Paweł Niedziółka, and discusses the corporate bonds issued by real estate capital groups, and focuses on the role of covenants embedded in bond issue programs. The paper presents the structure of covenants occurring in bond issue programs. The empirical part is based on the data on companies operating on the real estate market in Poland and listed on Catalyst.
We hope our readers will find that selection interesting. Stay safe
Michał Głuszak
Thematic Issue Editor
