Heterogeneous Real Estate Agents and the Housing Cycle

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Gilbukh, Sonia; Goldsmith-Pinkham, Paul
• 署名单位: City University of New York (CUNY) System; Baruch College (CUNY); Yale University; National Bureau of Economic Research
• 刊物名称: REVIEW OF FINANCIAL STUDIES
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0893-9454
• DOI: 10.1093/rfs/hhae048
• 发表日期: 2024
• 页码: 3431
• 关键词: free entry; search; MARKET; INFORMATION; DYNAMICS; Foreclosures; prices; sales

摘要

The real estate market is highly intermediated, with 90% of buyers and sellers hiring an agent. However, low barriers to entry and fixed commission rates result in large market share for inexperienced intermediaries. Using micro-level data on 8.5 million listings and a novel research design, we show that house listings by inexperienced agents have a lower probability of selling, and this effect is strongest during the housing bust. We estimate that 3.7% more listings would have been sold in a flexible commission equilibrium. Eighty percent of this improvement comes from competition and the remainder from commission variation across experience.