ABSTRACT
Housing finance is provided largely on a domestic basis, that is, only locally based institutions provide loans. Indeed, in many countries, housing finance institutions operate within much smaller geographical areas, for example, states or provinces. There has recently been much interest in the internationalization of housing finance, particularly within the United Kingdom because of the country's membership of the European Community. Also, the financial markets generally are being internationalized and housing finance institutions now have the opportunity to obtain funds relatively cheaply from the international capital markets.
