Qualitative Response Estimations of the Selling Behaviour in the Swedish Market for Owner-Occupied Houses

Abstract

The probability that a household will sell its house in a specific year is assumed to be a function of, principally, changes in the characteristics of the household subsequent to purchase. Probit models are estimated from Swedish register data. Leads and lags in the behaviour of the households are introduced. The empirical results indicate that changes in the characteristics of the households do matter. A decrease in income seems to enhance the probability of selling more than an increase in income of the same magnitude. Leads equations exhibit at least as good fit as lags equations. The significance of leads appear to be attached mainly to changes in income while there is a weak indication that lags might be more important concerning the influence of changes in the number of children.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Amemiya, T. (1981). 'Qualitative response models: a survey', Journal of Economic Literature, Vol. 19, pp. 1483-1536.

Ball, M.J. and Kirwan, R.M. (1977). `Urban housing demand: some evidence from cross-sectional data', Applied Economics, Vol. 9, pp. 343-366.

Caldwell, B. (1982). Beyond Positivism: Economic Methodology in the Twentieth Century. London: George Allen and Unwin.

Clark, W.A. and Onaka, J.L. (1983). 'Life cycle and housing adjustment as explanations of residential mobility', Urban Studies, Vol. 20, pp. 47-57.

Hårsman, B. (1981). Housing Demand Models and Housing Markets Models for Regional and Local Planning. Stockholm: Swedish Council for Building Reearch, D 13.

Kendig, H.L. (1984). 'Housing careers, life cycle and residential mobility: implications for the housing market', Urban Studies, Vol. 21, pp. 271-283.

Quigley, J.M. and Weinberg, D.H. (1977). 'Intra-urban residential mobility: a review and synthesis', International Regional Science Review, Vol. 2, pp. 41-66.

Weinberg, D.H. , Friedman, J. and Mayo, S.K. (1981). 'Intraurban residential mobility: the role of transactions costs, market imperfections, and household disequilibrium', Journal of Urban Economics, Vol. 9, pp. 332-348.