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The Ins and Outs of Selling Houses: Understanding Housing-Market Volatility

Author

Listed:
  • Ngai, L. Rachel

    (London School of Economics)

  • Sheedy, Kevin D.

    (London School of Economics)

Abstract

The housing market is subject to search frictions in buying and selling houses. This paper documents the role of inflows (new listings) and outflows (sales) in explaining the volatility and co-movement of housing-market variables. An 'ins versus outs' decomposition shows that both inflows and outflows are quantitatively important in understanding fluctuations in houses for sale. The correlations between sales, prices, new listings, and time-to-sell are shown to be stable over time, while the signs of their correlations with houses for sale are found to be time varying. A calibrated search-and-matching model with endogenous inflows and outflows and shocks to housing demand matches many of the stable correlations and predicts that correlations with houses for sale depend on the source and persistence of shocks.

Suggested Citation

  • Ngai, L. Rachel & Sheedy, Kevin D., 2023. "The Ins and Outs of Selling Houses: Understanding Housing-Market Volatility," IZA Discussion Papers 16603, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp16603
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Rangan Gupta & Damien Moodley, 2023. "Housing Search Activity and Quantiles-Based Predictability of Housing Price Movements in the United States," Working Papers 202335, University of Pretoria, Department of Economics.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    housing-market cyclicality; inflows and outflows; search frictions; match quality;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E32 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - Business Fluctuations; Cycles
    • E22 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Investment; Capital; Intangible Capital; Capacity
    • R21 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Household Analysis - - - Housing Demand
    • R31 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Real Estate Markets, Spatial Production Analysis, and Firm Location - - - Housing Supply and Markets

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