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New Emerging Mortgage Markets Research Resource
25/5/01



A series of initiatives to strengthen the knowledge base of global mortgage markets has been announced by Societas: International Institute for Real Estate Finance. These initiatives include the launch of the Emerging Mortgage Markets Research Program, the Global Mortgage Information Centre, an "Associates" professional network, and a new website.

Societas is an independent, non-profit organisation whose mission is "to facilitate the development of long term capital for real estate in emerging markets, and to create a global knowledge centre for the benefit of investors, lending intermediaries and consumers of real estate loan products around the world."

Its new emerging mortgage markets research programme is intended to bridge the gap between funding sources and needs in emerging markets by:


  • increasing local recognition of the value of collecting more precise quantitative information.
  • creating information collection networks on a per country basis.
  • harnessing that information in a practical way through effective dissemination to the investment community.
  • supporting the creation of new models for private-sector lending to low-income people.


Initial reports are planned for Mexico, Brazil, Korea, Indonesia, Poland, and the Central America/Caribbean region are being finalised. Plans are underway to add China, Russia, India, and Turkey. Societas will work with additional countries as funding becomes available.

According to Societas President Debra Erb, "Since Societas was launched our stakeholders in all types of markets have told us that information gaps remain the primary obstacle to cross-border investment and the transfer of technical knowledge. A lot of good information exists but often is inconsistent, hard to find, too expensive, and not comparable across diverse markets." For more information visit the Societas Web site.