This paper tests empirically whether observed variation in the relationship between residential rents and housing prices in US metropolitan areas during the 1974-79 period can be attributed to differences in the user cost of residential capital. Consistent with user cost models, house values are found to be high relative to market rents where real after-tax financing costs are low and where expected capital gains from appreciation are large. At the same time, high rental vacancies, lagging rents and high inflation rates per se also are found to raise structure prices relative to market-clearing rents, suggesting significant adjustment lags from the durability of the housing stock, transaction costs, and segmentation between owner and rental submarkets.
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