IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/jrefec/v68y2024i1d10.1007_s11146-023-09939-y.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Information Asymmetry with Heterogeneous Buyers and Sellers in the Housing Market

Author

Listed:
  • L. Li

    (University of Cambridge
    School of Urban Planning and Design, Peking University Shenzhen Graduate School)

  • K. W. Chau

    (University of Hong Kong)

Abstract

This study examines how heterogeneous traders on both sides of transactions behave in the housing market under information asymmetry. Two types of buyers, namely, informed and uninformed buyers, correspond to local and non-local buyers in the empirical tests. Non-local housing buyers in Hong Kong pay a 2.8% premium over local buyers in the second-hand market for housing units with similar observable attributes. We distinguish real estate developers from sellers in the second-hand market. The former has an incentive and ability to reduce information asymmetry by providing a quality guarantee on the building structure and signaling with brand name, none of which can be fulfilled by sellers in the second-hand market. Empirical results show that developers’ efforts to reduce information asymmetry allow them to fetch a higher price than sellers in the second-hand market, holding property characteristics constant. Such efforts are particularly valued by uninformed buyers as non-local buyers prefer to purchase in the first-hand market rather than in the second-hand market, especially when the problem of information asymmetry is serious.

Suggested Citation

  • L. Li & K. W. Chau, 2024. "Information Asymmetry with Heterogeneous Buyers and Sellers in the Housing Market," The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, Springer, vol. 68(1), pages 138-159, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:jrefec:v:68:y:2024:i:1:d:10.1007_s11146-023-09939-y
    DOI: 10.1007/s11146-023-09939-y
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11146-023-09939-y
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11146-023-09939-y?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    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. Badarinza, Cristian & Ramadorai, Tarun, 2018. "Home away from home? Foreign demand and London house prices," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 130(3), pages 532-555.
    2. Maarten C. W. Janssen & Santanu Roy, 2002. "Dynamic Trading in a Durable Good Market with Asymmetric Information," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 43(1), pages 257-282, February.
    3. 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.
    4. Igal Hendel & Alessandro Lizzeri, 2002. "The Role of Leasing under Adverse Selection," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 110(1), pages 113-143, February.
    5. Sauveur Giannoni & Olivier Beaumais & Caroline Tafani, 2017. "Foreign buyers, price dispersion and local buyers eviction in bargaining markets," Working Papers 005, Laboratoire Lieux, Identités, eSpaces et Activités (LISA).
    6. Val E. Lambson & Grant R. McQueen & Barrett A. Slade, 2004. "Do Out‐of‐State Buyers Pay More for Real Estate? An Examination of Anchoring‐Induced Bias and Search Costs," Real Estate Economics, American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association, vol. 32(1), pages 85-126, March.
    7. Veronica Guerrieri & Robert Shimer & Randall Wright, 2010. "Adverse Selection in Competitive Search Equilibrium," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 78(6), pages 1823-1862, November.
    8. K. Chau & S. Wong & C. Yiu, 2007. "Housing Quality in the Forward Contracts Market," The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, Springer, vol. 34(3), pages 313-325, April.
    9. Ather H. Akbari & Yigit Aydede, 2012. "Effects of immigration on house prices in Canada," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 44(13), pages 1645-1658, May.
    10. David C. Ling & Andy Naranjo & Milena T. Petrova, 2018. "Search Costs, Behavioral Biases, and Information Intermediary Effects," The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, Springer, vol. 57(1), pages 114-151, July.
    11. Turnbull, Geoffrey K. & Sirmans, C. F., 1993. "Information, search, and house prices," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 23(4), pages 545-557, September.
    12. Pablo Kurlat & Johannes Stroebel, 2015. "Testing for Information Asymmetries in Real Estate Markets," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 28(8), pages 2429-2461.
    13. Anupam Nanda & Stephen Ross, 2012. "The Impact of Property Condition Disclosure Laws on Housing Prices: Evidence from an Event Study Using Propensity Scores," The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, Springer, vol. 45(1), pages 88-109, June.
    14. Siu Wong & C. Yiu & K. Chau, 2012. "Liquidity and Information Asymmetry in the Real Estate Market," The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, Springer, vol. 45(1), pages 49-62, June.
    15. Eerola, Essi & Lyytikäinen, Teemu, 2015. "On the role of public price information in housing markets," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 74-84.
    16. Yu Liu & Paul Gallimore & Jonathan Wiley, 2015. "Nonlocal Office Investors: Anchored by their Markets and Impaired by their Distance," The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, Springer, vol. 50(1), pages 129-149, January.
    17. V. V. Chari & Ali Shourideh & Ariel Zetlin-Jones, 2014. "Reputation and Persistence of Adverse Selection in Secondary Loan Markets," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 104(12), pages 4027-4070, December.
    18. Jinjarak, Yothin & Sheffrin, Steven M., 2011. "Causality, real estate prices, and the current account," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 33(2), pages 233-246, June.
    19. K. W. Chau & Lennon H. T. Choy, 2011. "Let the Buyer or Seller Beware: Measuring Lemons in the Housing Market under Different Doctrines of Law Governing Transactions and Information," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 54(S4), pages 347-365.
    20. Jonathan A. Wiley, 2012. "Buy High, Sell Low: Corporate Investors in the Office Market," Real Estate Economics, American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association, vol. 40(4), pages 838-855, December.
    21. Keith Ihlanfeldt & Tom Mayock, 2012. "Information, Search, and House Prices: Revisited," The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, Springer, vol. 44(1), pages 90-115, January.
    22. Chi-Chur Chao & Eden Yu, 2015. "Housing Markets with Foreign Buyers," The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, Springer, vol. 50(2), pages 207-218, February.
    23. Poh Har Neo & Seow Eng Ong & Yong Tu, 2008. "Buyer Exuberance and Price Premium," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 45(2), pages 331-345, February.
    24. Engers, Maxim & Hartmann, Monica & Stern, Steven, 2009. "Are lemons really hot potatoes?," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 27(2), pages 250-263, March.
    25. Genesove, David, 1993. "Adverse Selection in the Wholesale Used Car Market," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 101(4), pages 644-665, August.
    26. Carl Shapiro, 1983. "Premiums for High Quality Products as Returns to Reputations," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 98(4), pages 659-679.
    27. Mark J. Garmaise, 2004. "Confronting Information Asymmetries: Evidence from Real Estate Markets," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 17(2), pages 405-437.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. 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.
    2. David C. Ling & Andy Naranjo & Milena T. Petrova, 2018. "Search Costs, Behavioral Biases, and Information Intermediary Effects," The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, Springer, vol. 57(1), pages 114-151, July.
    3. Cynthia Holmes & Jia Xie, 2018. "Distortions in Real Estate Transactions with Out-of-State Participants," The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, Springer, vol. 57(4), pages 592-617, November.
    4. Ralph B. Siebert & Michael J. Seiler, 2022. "Why Do Buyers Pay Different Prices for Comparable Products? A Structural Approach on the Housing Market," The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, Springer, vol. 65(2), pages 261-292, August.
    5. Nan Liu, 2021. "Market buoyancy, information transparency and pricing strategy in the Scottish housing market," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 58(16), pages 3388-3406, December.
    6. Gong, Cynthia M. & Lizieri, Colin & Bao, Helen X.H., 2019. "“Smarter information, smarter consumers”? Insights into the housing market," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 97(C), pages 51-64.
    7. Yu Liu & Paul Gallimore & Jonathan Wiley, 2015. "Nonlocal Office Investors: Anchored by their Markets and Impaired by their Distance," The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, Springer, vol. 50(1), pages 129-149, January.
    8. Mr. Damien Puy & Mr. Anil Ari & Ms. Yu Shi, 2020. "Foreign Demand and Local House Prices: Evidence from the US," IMF Working Papers 2020/043, International Monetary Fund.
    9. Tianwei Yang & Derek Huo & Lennon H. T. Choy & K. W. Chau, 2023. "The Impact of Measurement and Pricing Cost on Rental Transaction Prices – Evidence from the Institutional Rental Housing Market in Beijing," The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, Springer, vol. 66(1), pages 119-140, January.
    10. Donner, Herman & Kopsch, Fredrik, 2016. "Housing Tenure and Informational Asymmetries," Working Paper Series 16/3, Royal Institute of Technology, Department of Real Estate and Construction Management & Banking and Finance.
    11. Ralph Siebert & Michael J. Seiler, 2020. "Why Do Buyers Pay Different Prices for Comparable Products? Evidence from the Housing Market," CESifo Working Paper Series 8337, CESifo.
    12. Steven Devaney & David Scofield, 2017. "Do ‘foreigners’ pay more? The effects of investor type and nationality on office transaction prices in New York City," Journal of Property Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 34(1), pages 1-18, January.
    13. Badarinza, Cristian & Ramadorai, Tarun & Shimizu, Chihiro, 2022. "Gravity, counterparties, and foreign investment," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 145(2), pages 132-152.
    14. K. W. Chau & Lennon H. T. Choy, 2011. "Let the Buyer or Seller Beware: Measuring Lemons in the Housing Market under Different Doctrines of Law Governing Transactions and Information," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 54(S4), pages 347-365.
    15. Sauveur Giannoni & Olivier Beaumais & Caroline Tafani, 2019. "Price gap between non-local and local buyers on the farmland market: a potential outcome approach," Working Papers hal-02400305, HAL.
    16. Johannes Stroebel, 2016. "Asymmetric Information about Collateral Values," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 71(3), pages 1071-1112, June.
    17. Adelino, Manuel & Gerardi, Kristopher & Hartman-Glaser, Barney, 2019. "Are lemons sold first? Dynamic signaling in the mortgage market," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 132(1), pages 1-25.
    18. William N Goetzmann & Christophe Spaenjers & Stijn Van Nieuwerburgh, 2021. "Real and Private-Value Assets [Gendered prices]," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 34(8), pages 3497-3526.
    19. Turnbull, Geoffrey K. & van der Vlist, Arno J., 2022. "The price of ignorance: Foreclosures, uninformed buyers and house prices," Journal of Housing Economics, Elsevier, vol. 57(C).
    20. David C. Ling & Andy Naranjo & Benjamin Scheick, 2021. "There is no place like home: Information asymmetries, local asset concentration, and portfolio returns," Real Estate Economics, American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association, vol. 49(1), pages 36-74, March.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Information asymmetry; Housing price; Non-local buyer; Developer;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D83 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Search; Learning; Information and Knowledge; Communication; Belief; Unawareness
    • R2 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Household Analysis
    • R3 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Real Estate Markets, Spatial Production Analysis, and Firm Location

    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:kap:jrefec:v:68:y:2024:i:1:d:10.1007_s11146-023-09939-y. 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    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.