The Sensitivity of Housing Demand to Financing Conditions: Evidence from a Survey

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Fuster, Andreas; Zafar, Basit
• 署名单位: Swiss National Bank (SNB); University of Michigan System; University of Michigan; National Bureau of Economic Research
• 刊物名称: AMERICAN ECONOMIC JOURNAL-ECONOMIC POLICY
• ISSN/ISSBN: 1945-7731
• DOI: 10.1257/pol.20150337
• 发表日期: 2021
• 页码: 231-265
• 关键词: Macroprudential policies; MARKET; prices; constraints; preference

摘要

Measuring the sensitivity of housing demand to mortgage rates and available leverage is challenging because there is generally no exogenous variation in these variables. This paper circumvents this issue by designing a strategic survey in which respondents report their willingness to pay (WTP) for a home under different financing scenarios. Relaxation of down payment constraints or an exogenous increase in nonhousing wealth has large effects on WTP, especially for poorer and more credit-constrained households. However, changing the mortgage rate has only moderate effects on WTP. These findings have implications for theoretical models of house price determination and for policy.