This multidisciplinary collection casts exciting new light on how housing markets work. It develops innovative ideas about the microstructures of markets in order to explore the social, cultural and psychological, as well as economic, drivers of this most critical element of national and local economies.

1. Introduction Susan J. Smith and Moira Munro 2. Microeconomic Perspectives on the Structure and Operation of Local Housing Markets Craig Watkins 3. Understanding Neighbourhood Housing Markets: Regional Context, Disequilibrium, Sub-markets and Supply Glen Bramley Chris Leishman and David Watkins 4. 'Doing Deals on the House' in a 'Post-welfare' Society: Evidence of Micro-Market Practices from Britain and the USA Helen Jarvis 5. Between Investment, Asset and Use Consumption: The Meanings of Homeownership in Japan Richard Ronald 6. Knowing the Market? Understanding and Performing York's Housing Alison Wallace 7. Influences and Emotions: Exploring Family Decision-making Processes when Buying a House Deborah Levy, Laurence Murphy and Christina K.C. Lee 8. The Effect of Consumers' Expectations in a Booming Housing Market: Space-time Patterns in the Netherlands, 1999-2000 Jan Rouwendal and Simonetta Longhi 9. Rhetoric in the Language of Real Estate Marketing Gwilym Pryce and Sarah Oates 10. Calculated Affection? Charting the Complex Economy of Home Purchase Moira Munro and Susan J. Smith