IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/reesec/v42y2014i1p1-32.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Bidding Wars for Houses

Author

Listed:
  • Lu Han
  • William C. Strange

Abstract

type="main"> This article analyzes the time series and cross-sectional patterns of bidding wars for houses. Bidding wars were once rare, a fairly constant 3–4% of transactions. This led to treating list price as a ceiling in empirical and theoretical research on housing. The bidding war share roughly tripled between 1995 and 2005, rising to more than 30% in some markets. The share fell during the subsequent bust, but it remains approximately twice as high as previously. The article shows bidding war incidence to be greater during macroeconomic and housing booms. The article also considers other potential contributing factors, including buyer irrationality, the use of the Internet in home purchases and land use regulation.

Suggested Citation

  • Lu Han & William C. Strange, 2014. "Bidding Wars for Houses," Real Estate Economics, American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association, vol. 42(1), pages 1-32, March.
  • Handle: RePEc:bla:reesec:v:42:y:2014:i:1:p:1-32
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1111/reec.12015
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Gyourko, Joseph & Tracy, Joseph, 1991. "The Structure of Local Public Finance and the Quality of Life," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 99(4), pages 774-806, August.
    2. Genesove, David & Han, Lu, 2012. "Search and matching in the housing market," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 72(1), pages 31-45.
    3. Jaison R. Abel & Richard Deitz, 2010. "Bypassing the bust: the stability of upstate New York's housing markets during the recession," Current Issues in Economics and Finance, Federal Reserve Bank of New York, vol. 16(Mar).
    4. Rutherford, R.C. & Springer, T.M. & Yavas, A., 2005. "Conflicts between principals and agents: evidence from residential brokerage," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 76(3), pages 627-665, June.
    5. Michael A. Arnold, 1999. "Search, Bargaining and Optimal Asking Prices," Real Estate Economics, American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association, vol. 27(3), pages 453-481, September.
    6. Anglin, Paul M & Rutherford, Ronald & Springer, Thomas M, 2003. "The Trade-Off Between the Selling Price of Residential Properties and Time-on-the-Market: The Impact of Price Setting," The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, Springer, vol. 26(1), pages 95-111, January.
    7. In-Koo Cho & David M. Kreps, 1987. "Signaling Games and Stable Equilibria," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Oxford University Press, vol. 102(2), pages 179-221.
    8. Merlo, Antonio & Ortalo-Magne, Francois, 2004. "Bargaining over residential real estate: evidence from England," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 56(2), pages 192-216, September.
    9. Christopher A. Pissarides, 2000. "Equilibrium Unemployment Theory, 2nd Edition," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262161877, December.
    10. Donald R. Haurin & Jessica L. Haurin & Taylor Nadauld & Anthony Sanders, 2010. "List Prices, Sale Prices and Marketing Time: An Application to U.S. Housing Markets," Real Estate Economics, American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association, vol. 38(4), pages 659-685, Winter.
    11. Ashenfelter, Orley & Genesove, David, 1992. "Testing for Price Anomalies in Real-Estate Auctions," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 82(2), pages 501-505, May.
    12. Daniel C. Quan, 2002. "Market Mechanism Choice and Real Estate Disposition: Search Versus Auction," Real Estate Economics, American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association, vol. 30(3), pages 365-384.
    13. Wheaton, William C, 1990. "Vacancy, Search, and Prices in a Housing Market Matching Model," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 98(6), pages 1270-1292, December.
    14. Abdullah Yavas & Shiawee Yang, 1995. "The Strategic Role of Listing Price in Marketing Real Estate: Theory and Evidence," Real Estate Economics, American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association, vol. 23(3), pages 347-368, September.
    15. Karl E. Case & Robert J. Shiller, 2003. "Is There a Bubble in the Housing Market?," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 34(2), pages 299-362.
    16. Christopher J. Mayer, 1998. "Assessing the Performance of Real Estate Auctions," Real Estate Economics, American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association, vol. 26(1), pages 41-66, March.
    17. David Geltner & Brian D. Kluger & Norman G. Miller, 1991. "Optimal Price and Selling Effort from the Perspectives of the Broker and Seller," Real Estate Economics, American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association, vol. 19(1), pages 1-24, March.
    18. Steven D. Levitt & Chad Syverson, 2008. "Market Distortions When Agents Are Better Informed: The Value of Information in Real Estate Transactions," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 90(4), pages 599-611, November.
    19. Mortensen, Dale & Pissarides, Christopher, 2011. "Job Creation and Job Destruction in the Theory of Unemployment," Ekonomicheskaya Politika / Economic Policy, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration, vol. 1, pages 1-19.
    20. Glaeser, Edward L. & Gyourko, Joseph & Saiz, Albert, 2008. "Housing supply and housing bubbles," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 64(2), pages 198-217, September.
    21. Robert Novy‐Marx, 2009. "Hot and Cold Markets," Real Estate Economics, American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association, vol. 37(1), pages 1-22, March.
    22. Ulrike Malmendier & Young Han Lee, 2011. "The Bidder's Curse," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 101(2), pages 749-787, April.
    23. Anglin, Paul M & Arnott, Richard, 1991. "Residential Real Estate Brokerage as a Principal-Agent Problem," The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, Springer, vol. 4(2), pages 99-125, June.
    24. Yongmin Chen & Robert W. Rosenthal, 1996. "On the Use of Ceiling-Price Commitments by Monopolists," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 27(2), pages 207-220, Summer.
    25. Glaeser, Edward L & Gyourko, Joseph & Saks, Raven, 2005. "Why Is Manhattan So Expensive? Regulation and the Rise in Housing Prices," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 48(2), pages 331-369, October.
    26. Peter A. Diamond, 1982. "Wage Determination and Efficiency in Search Equilibrium," Review of Economic Studies, Oxford University Press, vol. 49(2), pages 217-227.
    27. Michael A. Arnold, 1992. "The Principal‐Agent Relationship in Real Estate Brokerage Services," Real Estate Economics, American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association, vol. 20(1), pages 89-106, March.
    28. Kenneth M. Lusht, 1996. "A Comparison of Prices Brought by English Auctions and Private Negotiations," Real Estate Economics, American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association, vol. 24(4), pages 517-530, December.
    29. Paul E. Carrillo, 2013. "To Sell or Not to Sell: Measuring the Heat of the Housing Market," Real Estate Economics, American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association, vol. 41(2), pages 310-346, June.
    30. Donald Haurin, 1988. "The Duration of Marketing Time of Residential Housing," Real Estate Economics, American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association, vol. 16(4), pages 396-410, December.
    31. Paul E. Carrillo, 2012. "An Empirical Stationary Equilibrium Search Model Of The Housing Market," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 53(1), pages 203-234, February.
    32. Sass, Tim R, 1988. "A Note on Optimal Price Cutting Behavior under Demand Uncertainty," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 70(2), pages 336-339, May.
    33. Yinger, John, 1981. "A Search Model of Real Estate Broker Behavior," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 71(4), pages 591-605, September.
    34. Joseph Gyourko & Albert Saiz & Anita Summers, 2008. "A New Measure of the Local Regulatory Environment for Housing Markets: The Wharton Residential Land Use Regulatory Index," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 45(3), pages 693-729, March.
    35. Michel Glower & Donald R. Haurin & Patric H. Hendershott, 1998. "Selling Time and Selling Price: The Influence of Seller Motivation," Real Estate Economics, American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association, vol. 26(4), pages 719-740, December.
    36. John R. Knight, 2002. "Listing Price, Time on Market, and Ultimate Selling Price: Causes and Effects of Listing Price Changes," Real Estate Economics, American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association, vol. 30(2), pages 213-237.
    37. Wheaton, William C., 1974. "A comparative static analysis of urban spatial structure," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 9(2), pages 223-237, October.
    38. Zuehlke, Thomas W, 1987. "Duration Dependence in the Housing Market," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 69(4), pages 701-704, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Julien Pascal, 2023. "Rental housing market and directed search," BCL working papers 179, Central Bank of Luxembourg.
    2. Chang, Zheng, 2018. "Information Barriers, Housing Searches, and Residential Satisfaction: A Study of Mainland China Students in Hong Kong," International Real Estate Review, Global Social Science Institute, vol. 21(3), pages 343-365.
    3. Stephen Buschbom & Carolyn Dehring & Neil Dunse & Henry Munneke, 2018. "Sealed-Bid Auctions and Fixed Price Sales: Seller Choice in Housing Markets," The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, Springer, vol. 56(4), pages 525-545, May.
    4. Darren K. Hayunga & R. Kelley Pace, 2017. "List Prices in the US Housing Market," The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, Springer, vol. 55(2), pages 155-184, August.
    5. Crocker H. Liu & Patrick S. Smith, 2023. "School quality as a catalyst for bidding wars and new housing development," Real Estate Economics, American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association, vol. 51(4), pages 785-818, July.
    6. Xiaoming Cai & Pieter Gautier & Ronald Wolthoff, 2023. "Meetings And Mechanisms," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 64(1), pages 155-185, February.
    7. Wang, Xiaodan & Li, Keyang & Wu, Jing, 2020. "House price index based on online listing information: The case of China," Journal of Housing Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(C).
    8. Yuen Leng Chow & Isa E. Hafalir & Abdullah Yavas, 2015. "Auction versus Negotiated Sale: Evidence from Real Estate Sales," Real Estate Economics, American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association, vol. 43(2), pages 432-470, June.
    9. Bruneel-Zupanc, Christophe Alain, 2021. "Imperfect Information, Learning and Housing Market Dynamics," TSE Working Papers 21-1186, Toulouse School of Economics (TSE).
    10. Jens Kolbe & Rainer Schulz & Martin Wersing & Axel Werwatz, 2021. "Real estate listings and their usefulness for hedonic regressions," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 61(6), pages 3239-3269, December.
    11. Peyman Khezr & Flavio Menezes, 2018. "Auctions with an asking price," International Journal of Game Theory, Springer;Game Theory Society, vol. 47(4), pages 1329-1350, November.
    12. Bø, Erlend Eide, 2018. "Housing match quality and demand: What can we learn from comparing buyer characteristics?," Journal of Housing Economics, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 184-199.
    13. Slemrod, Joel & Weber, Caroline & Shan, Hui, 2017. "The behavioral response to housing transfer taxes: Evidence from a notched change in D.C. policy," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 100(C), pages 137-153.
    14. Martijn I. Dröes & Marc K. Francke, 2018. "What Causes the Positive Price-Turnover Correlation in European Housing Markets?," The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, Springer, vol. 57(4), pages 618-646, November.
    15. Han, Lu & Strange, William C., 2016. "What is the role of the asking price for a house?," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 93(C), pages 115-130.
    16. Maggie Rong Hu & Adrian D. Lee, 2020. "Outshine to Outbid: Weather-Induced Sentiment and the Housing Market," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 66(3), pages 1440-1472, March.
    17. Galesi, Alessandro & Mata, Nuria & Rey, David & Schmitz, Sebastian & Schuffels, Johannes, 2020. "Regional Housing Market Conditions in Spain," Research Memorandum 029, Maastricht University, Graduate School of Business and Economics (GSBE).
    18. Tingyu Zhou & John M Clapp & Ran Lu‐Andrews, 2022. "Examining omitted variable bias in anchoring premium estimates: Evidence based on assessed value," Real Estate Economics, American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association, vol. 50(3), pages 789-828, September.
    19. Anundsen, André Kallåk & Kivedal, Bjørnar Karlsen & Røed Larsen, Erling & Thorsrud, Leif Anders, 2023. "Behavioral changes in the housing market before and after the Covid-19 lockdown," Journal of Housing Economics, Elsevier, vol. 59(PB).
    20. Genesove, David & Hansen, James, 2016. "The Role of Auctions and Negotiation in Housing Prices," CEPR Discussion Papers 11392, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    21. John M. Clapp & Ran Lu‐Andrews & Tingyu Zhou, 2020. "Anchoring to Purchase Price and Fundamentals: Application of Salience Theory to Housing Cycle Diagnosis," Real Estate Economics, American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association, vol. 48(4), pages 1274-1317, December.
    22. Lawrence Kryzanowski & Yanting Wu & Tingyu Zhou, 2023. "Conflicts of interest and agent heterogeneity in buyer brokerage," Real Estate Economics, American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association, vol. 51(1), pages 130-169, January.
    23. Erlend Eide Bø, 2019. "Buy to let. Investment buyers in a housing search model," Discussion Papers 896, Statistics Norway, Research Department.
    24. Gunnelin, Åke & Netzell, Olof, 2019. "The relationship between property transaction prices, turnover rates and buyers' and sellers' reservation price distributions," Working Paper Series 19/2, Royal Institute of Technology, Department of Real Estate and Construction Management & Banking and Finance.
    25. Liu, Crocker H. & Nowak, Adam & Rosenthal, Stuart S., 2016. "Housing price bubbles, new supply, and within-city dynamics," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 96(C), pages 55-72.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Han, Lu & Strange, William C., 2015. "The Microstructure of Housing Markets," Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, in: Gilles Duranton & J. V. Henderson & William C. Strange (ed.), Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, edition 1, volume 5, chapter 0, pages 813-886, Elsevier.
    2. Han, Lu & Strange, William C., 2016. "What is the role of the asking price for a house?," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 93(C), pages 115-130.
    3. Velma Zahirovic-Herbert & Bennie D. Waller & Geoffrey K. Turnbull, 2020. "Properties that Sell at or above Listing Price: Strategic Pricing, Better Broker or Just Dumb Luck?," The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, Springer, vol. 60(1), pages 53-76, February.
    4. Liu, Crocker H. & Nowak, Adam & Rosenthal, Stuart S., 2016. "Housing price bubbles, new supply, and within-city dynamics," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 96(C), pages 55-72.
    5. Simon Stevenson & James Young, 2015. "The Role of Undisclosed Reserves in English Open Outcry Auctions," Real Estate Economics, American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association, vol. 43(2), pages 375-402, June.
    6. Daniel Broxterman & Tingyu Zhou, 2023. "Information Frictions in Real Estate Markets: Recent Evidence and Issues," The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, Springer, vol. 66(2), pages 203-298, February.
    7. Peyman Khezr & Flavio M. Menezes, 2016. "Dynamic and Static Asking Prices in the Sydney Housing Market," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 92(297), pages 209-221, June.
    8. Genesove, David & Han, Lu, 2012. "Search and matching in the housing market," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 72(1), pages 31-45.
    9. Darren K. Hayunga & R. Kelley Pace, 2017. "List Prices in the US Housing Market," The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, Springer, vol. 55(2), pages 155-184, August.
    10. Edward P. Lazear, 2010. "Why Do Inventories Rise When Demand Falls in Housing and Other Markets?," NBER Working Papers 15878, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    11. Bian, Xun & Waller, Bennie D. & Turnbull, Geoffrey K. & Wentland, Scott A., 2015. "How many listings are too many? Agent inventory externalities and the residential housing market," Journal of Housing Economics, Elsevier, vol. 28(C), pages 130-143.
    12. Paul E. Carrillo, 2012. "An Empirical Stationary Equilibrium Search Model Of The Housing Market," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 53(1), pages 203-234, February.
    13. de Wit, Erik R. & van der Klaauw, Bas, 2013. "Asymmetric information and list-price reductions in the housing market," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 43(3), pages 507-520.
    14. Nasser Daneshvary & Terrence Clauretie, 2013. "Agent Change and Seller Bargaining Power: A Case of Principal Agent Problem in the Housing Market," The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, Springer, vol. 47(3), pages 416-433, October.
    15. Alina Arefeva, 2016. "How Auctions Amplify House-Price Fluctuations," 2016 Meeting Papers 714, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    16. Justin Benefield & Ronald Rutherford & Marcus Allen, 2012. "The Effects of Estate Sales of Residential Real Estate on Price and Marketing Time," The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, Springer, vol. 45(4), pages 965-981, November.
    17. Daisy J. Huang & Charles Ka Yui Leung & Chung-Yi Tse, 2018. "What Accounts for the Differences in Rent-Price Ratio and Turnover Rate? A Search-and-Matching Approach," The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, Springer, vol. 57(3), pages 431-475, October.
    18. Crocker H. Liu & Adam Nowak & Stuart Rosenthal, 2014. "Bubbles, Post-Crash Dynamics, and the Housing Market," Working Papers 14-18, Department of Economics, West Virginia University.
    19. Donner, Herman, 2017. "Determinants of a Foreclosure Discount," Working Paper Series 17/2, Royal Institute of Technology, Department of Real Estate and Construction Management & Banking and Finance.
    20. Kenneth Soyeh & Jonathan Wiley & Ken Johnson, 2014. "Do Buyer Incentives Work for Houses during a Real Estate Downturn?," The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, Springer, vol. 48(2), pages 380-396, February.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:reesec:v:42:y:2014:i:1:p:1-32. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/areueea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.