The Great Recession of 2007 and the Housing Market Crash: Why Did So Many Builders Fail? Mohamad Ali Hasbini University of South Florida, [email protected]
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University of South Florida Scholar Commons Graduate Theses and Dissertations Graduate School October 2017 The Great Recession of 2007 and the Housing Market Crash: Why Did So Many Builders Fail? Mohamad Ali Hasbini University of South Florida, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd Part of the Business Administration, Management, and Operations Commons Scholar Commons Citation Hasbini, Mohamad Ali, "The Great Recession of 2007 and the Housing Market Crash: Why Did So Many Builders Fail?" (2017). Graduate Theses and Dissertations. http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd/7031 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at Scholar Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Graduate Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Scholar Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. The Great Recession of 2007 and the Housing Market Crash Why Did So Many Builders Fail? Lessons for the Local Homebuilding Industry by Mohamad Ali Hasbini A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Business Administration Muma College of Business University of South Florida Co-Major Professor: Joann Quinn, Ph.D. Co-Major Professor: Timothy Heath, Ph.D. T. Grandon Gill, D.B.A. Paul Solomon, Ph.D. Date of Approval: October 13, 2017 Keywords: Bubbles, Sub-prime lending, Management Practices, Entrepreneurship, Financial management, Business Failure Copyright @ 2017, Mohamad Ali Hasbini DEDICATION I dedicate this work to my wife Sawsan whose patience, understanding, and sacrifice made life a joy for me the past thirty years. To my children Leena, Zeina and Jad, I could not have achieved this momentous task without your support. Leena, a special thanks to you for being my role model. To my late father Abdul Rahman and my mother Nadia, this honor is for you. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to express my sincere appreciation to all faculty members who guided my educational journey at U.S.F starting as an undergraduate through my doctoral years. Special thanks to Dr. Robert Keith for believing in my abilities and giving me that unique chance during my early graduate years. My deep sense of gratitude goes to my Chair, Joann Quinn, Ph.D. and Co- Chair Timothy Heath, Ph.D. for their extensive guidance and encouragement. Also, special thanks to Paul Solomon, Ph.D. and T. Grandon Gill, D.B.A. for their counsel and support as incredible dissertation committee members. Special recognition to the DBA program director T. Grandon Gill for developing this phenomenal program entailing the bridging of academia to the business world, and assistant director Mathew Mullarkey, Ph.D., for facilitating our academic journey. This honor bestowed upon us as DBA graduates could not have happened without the vision and leadership of our Dean, Moez Limayem, Ph.D. Thank You. I cannot forget my DBA classmates who were my inspiration the past three years. I am equally and deeply indebted to my good friend Robert Appleyard, “economist extraordinaire”, whose insights, advice, and keen sense of analysis, guided my thought process and allowed me to produce a richer dissertation, thank you. Finally, to all of the participants who invested their valuable time, and provided me with a wealth of information which made my research worthy, I am eternally grateful. TABLE OF CONTENTS Lists of Tables .............................................................................................................. iii Lists of Figures ............................................................................................................. iv Abstract ....................................................................................................................... ..v Chapter One: Navigating the Turbulent Economic Waters .......................................... 1 Executive Summary ................................................................................................ 1 The US Housing Market ......................................................................................... 2 Housing Bubbles ..................................................................................................... 7 The Great Recession of 2007 ................................................................................ 10 Literature Review .................................................................................................. 15 Literature Summary ............................................................................................... 15 Literature Analysis ................................................................................................ 19 Government Monetary and Housing Policies ....................................................... 20 The shadow banking system and the financial engineering of mortgages……….24 Lending Products and Underwriting Standards .................................................... 25 Subprime Market and Lending .............................................................................. 26 Other Contributing Factors .................................................................................... 29 Discussion ............................................................................................................. 30 Effect of Government Monetary and Housing Policies ........................................ 33 Role of Subprime Lending and Borrowers ........................................................... 35 Impact of Adjustable Rate Mortgages ................................................................... 35 Conclusion ............................................................................................................. 36 References ............................................................................................................. 38 Chapter Two: Exploring the Impact of Non-Financial Factors ................................... 43 Abstract ................................................................................................................. 43 Executive Summary .............................................................................................. 43 Introduction ........................................................................................................... 44 Scope of the Study................................................................................................. 49 The Homebuilding Industry .................................................................................. 52 Literature Review .................................................................................................. 56 Methodology ......................................................................................................... 61 Participants’ Selection ........................................................................................... 63 Format of the Questionnaires ................................................................................ 64 The Interviews and Data Collection ...................................................................... 65 Technical Steps ..................................................................................................... 65 Data Analysis and Results ..................................................................................... 66 i Findings ................................................................................................................. 67 Summary of the Qualitative Findings ................................................................... 75 Discussion ............................................................................................................. 80 Conclusion ............................................................................................................. 84 Limitations and Implications for Future Research ................................................ 85 References ............................................................................................................. 86 Chapter Three: Lessons for the Local Homebuilding Industry ................................... 88 Abstract ................................................................................................................. 88 Executive Summary .............................................................................................. 88 Introduction ........................................................................................................... 89 Protocol for the Literature Review ........................................................................ 90 Research Methodology .......................................................................................... 90 The Homebuilding Industry and the Great Recession of 2007 ............................. 91 Recession: Background and Historical Perspective .............................................. 95 Literature Summary ............................................................................................... 98 Operational Efficiencies ...................................................................................... 102 Innovation ............................................................................................................ 105 Marketing……………………………………………………………………….107 Forecasting……………………………………………………………………...108 Discussion ........................................................................................................... 109