DP7777 Search and Matching in the Housing Market

Author(s):	David Genesove, Lu Han
Publication Date:	April 2010
Keyword(s):	housing, matching, search, time on the market
JEL(s):	R21
Programme Areas:	Industrial Organization
Link to this Page:	cepr.org/active/publications/discussion_papers/dp.php?dpno=7777

Housing markets clear, in part, through the time that buyers and sellers spend on the market. We show that demand generally leads to shorter seller time on the market and fewer homes that buyers visit, while buyer time on the market is much less sensitive to demand. Furthermore, seller time on the market and homes visited are much more sensitive to demand growth than its level, consistent with sellers responding to demand with a lag. Those same findings also provide an estimate of the elasticity of the matching function.