As the world begins to recover from the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, housing finance markets are once again looking to the future. The impact of the US sub-prime crisis reverberated throughout the world. Many developed economies, which are more reliant on global capital markets, suffered the most with many experiencing a sharp slowdown or even collapse in house prices and a freezing up of their credit markets. Emerging and developing economies were not completely insulated from the global crisis, but the degree of contagion was less pronounced. More conservative lending standards in the wake of earlier crises have also helped many emerging markets better weather the financial storm.

The 2010 Global Housing Finance Conference, organized jointly by the World Bank’s Global Capital Markets Development Department Non-Bank Financial Institutions group and the International Finance Corporation (IFC), aims to provide participants with a full picture of the post-crisis housing finance landscape across emerging and developing economies. Numerous questions arise which the conference program will seek to address through six packed sessions:

1. The Impact and Responses to the Crisis in Emerging Economies
2. The Changing Face of the Regulatory Framework for Mortgage lending
3. (a) Residential Rental Markets OR (b) Prospects for the Mono-line Lending Business Model
4. Responsible Lending to Lower Income Groups
5. Mobilizing Savings for Housing
6. Capital Markets for Housing – Post-Crisis Outlook

The global challenges for housing finance remain the same as before – rapid urbanization, growing populations, limited land availability, access for lower income groups and sources of long term funds. Has the crisis changed how these challenges should be met? What should be the role of governments as policy makers and regulators? How can private markets develop in a sustainable way? One of the key lessons to emerge from the crisis is that responsible, accountable and prudent lending has to be an integral part of the capital mobilization process for housing. The World Bank’s fourth Global Housing Finance Conference provides a unique forum for participants from across the globe to work towards putting some of the lessons from the crisis into practice.

We would like to invite you to join us to hear, benefit and share your experiences with leading specialists and decisions makers in housing finance.

Please register by visiting our website at http://www.worldbank.org/housingfinance

Contact: Uloaku Echebiri; Tel: +1-202-473-9501; Email: uechebiri@worldbank.org