This paper presents a dynamic theory of housing market fluctuations. It develops a life-cycle model where households are heterogeneous with respect to income and preferences, and mortgage lending is restricted by a down-payment requirement. The market interaction of young credit-constrained households with older or richer unconstrained households generates the following results. (1) Current income of young credit-constrained households affects housing prices independently of aggregate income. (2) Housing prices and the number of housing transactions are positively correlated. (3) Housing prices over-react to income shocks. (4) A relaxation of the down-payment constraint triggers a boom-bust cycle. These results are consistent with patterns observed in the US and the UK.
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Paper provided by University of Munich, Department of Economics in its series Discussion Papers in Economics with number
20.
Find related papers by JEL classification: E32 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - Business Fluctuations; Cycles G12 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Asset Pricing G21 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Banks; Other Depository Institutions; Mortgages R21 - Urban, Rural, and Regional Economics - - Household Analysis - - - Housing Demand
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