This paper measures and accounts for variations in housing-sector performance using the UNCHS and World Bank's Housing Indicators database of a diverse sample of 52 cities. The first stage of the empirical analysis, based on a principal components analysis, indicates that housing-sector performance can be evaluated in terms of six distinct dimensions. These are: poor housing conditions, house price appreciation, public-sector housing provision, home-ownership, housing finance and the absence of homelessness. The second stage of the analysis reveals that intercity variations in these dimensions can be accounted for by differences in the levels of economic development, the macroeconomic environment, demographic characteristics, the efficiency of the construction industry, expenditure on infrastructure and the regulatory and institutional environment governing the housing delivery process.
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