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List price and sales prices of residential properties during booms and busts

Donald Haurin, Stanley McGreal, Alastair Adair, Louise Brown and James R. Webb

Journal of Housing Economics, 2013, vol. 22, issue 1, 1-10

Abstract: This paper investigates the relationship between the list and sale price of residential properties over the housing cycle. In down or normal markets the list price generally exceeds the sales price; however, when the housing market is strong, homes sell for more than their list price. This observation is not consistent with the assumptions made in the standard model of home sellers’ search behavior. We consider alternative models. In one, sellers set list prices based on their expectations of future changes in sales prices and the arrival rate of buyers; however, demand shocks occur. This model partially explains our data from the Belfast, U.K. housing market, but it fails to predict the list to sales price ratio during a sustained housing boom. We next describe a model where sellers’ endogenously select their search mechanism depending on the strength of the housing market. We find support for the conjecture that sellers switch to an auction-like model during housing booms. There also is evidence that during a downturn in the market, sellers’ list prices are sticky.

Keywords: List price; Sale price; Residential housing; Time on market; Search models (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D12 D44 D8 D83 R3 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2013
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (27)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:jhouse:v:22:y:2013:i:1:p:1-10

DOI: 10.1016/j.jhe.2013.01.003

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