Working Paper
Understanding booms and busts in housing markets
Abstract: Some booms in housing prices are followed by busts. Others are not. In either case it is difficult to find observable fundamentals that are correlated with price movements. We develop a model consistent with these observations. Real estate agents have heterogeneous expectations about long-run fundamentals but change their views because of \"social dynamics.\" Agents meet randomly with one another. Those with tighter priors are more likely to convert others to their beliefs. The model generates a \"fad\": The fraction of the population with a particular view rises and then falls. Depending on which agent is correct about fundamentals, these fads generate boom-busts or protracted booms.
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Bibliographic Information
Provider: Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta
Part of Series: FRB Atlanta CQER Working Paper
Publication Date: 2012
Number: 2012-02