Intrinsic and Rational Speculative Bubbles in the US Housing Market: 1960–2011
48 Pages Posted: 10 Jan 2011 Last revised: 13 Mar 2013
Date Written: January 7, 2011
Abstract
This paper examines the dynamics of the residential property market in the US between 1960 and 2011. Given the cyclicality and apparent overvaluation of the market over this period, we determine whether deviations of real estate prices from their fundamentals were caused by the existence of two genres of bubbles: intrinsic bubbles and rational speculative bubbles. We find evidence of an intrinsic bubble in the market pre-2000, implying that overreaction to changes in rents contributed to the overvaluation of real estate prices. However, using a regime switching model, we find evidence of periodically collapsing rational bubbles in the post-2000 market.
Keywords: intrinsic bubbles, rational bubbles, rents, US residential real estate market
JEL Classification: G12, R21
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation