Many goods are marketed after first stating a list price, with the expectation that the eventual sales price will differ. In this paper we first present a simple model of search behavior that includes the seller setting a list price. Holding constant the mean of the buyers' distribution of...

This study reviews the literature on the determinants of a country's homeownership rate including factors such as demographic characteristics, household level economic variables, and government housing policies. We present a comprehensive model of a household's tenure choice, one that allows for...

Households can borrow against equity through different channels, including home equity lines of credit (HELOCs), second liens, cash-out refinancing, and for senior homeowners, reverse mortgages. We use data from the New York Federal Reserve/Equifax Consumer Credit Panel, the U.S. Department of...

There have been unprecedented swings in the real price of owner-occupied housing in the past two decades. These price changes may have affected household wellbeing in a number of ways, including through their effects on child development. However, there has been little research on the impact of...

This paper outlines an approach to constructing a Dynamic Housing Affordability Index (DHAI) that reflects the true cost of owner-occupied housing and performs well in tracking changes in the demand for homeownership and other aspects of the housing market. Our index is grounded in user cost...

We study the impact of housing characteristics and homeownership on the cognitive and behavioral outcomes of children and young adults. One of our findings is that children living in relatively uncrowded dwellings have better mathematics skills; however, parental homeownership has no effect. In...

While the average change in house prices is related to changes in fundamentals or perhaps market-wide bubbles, not all houses in a market appreciate at the same rate. The primary focus of our study is to investigate the reasons for these variations in price changes among houses within a market....