Working Paper: CEPR ID: DP7777
Authors: David Genesove; Lu Han
Abstract: Housing markets clear, in part, through the time that buyers and sellers spend on the market. We show that demand generally leads to shorter seller time on the market and fewer homes that buyers visit, while buyer time on the market is much less sensitive to demand. Furthermore, seller time on the market and homes visited are much more sensitive to demand growth than its level, consistent with sellers responding to demand with a lag. Those same findings also provide an estimate of the elasticity of the matching function.
Keywords: housing; matching; search; time on the market
JEL Codes: R21
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| increased demand in the housing market (R21) | decrease in seller time on the market (R31) |
| increased demand in the housing market (R21) | reduction in the number of homes that buyers visit (R21) |
| higher population levels (J11) | shorter seller time on the market (G14) |
| higher population levels (J11) | fewer homes visited by buyers (R21) |
| demand growth (O49) | seller time on the market (L85) |
| demand growth (O49) | buyer time on the market (R21) |