A Disequilibrium Model of the Market for Houses: Implicit Selling Time as a Signal of Optimal Holding Periods and Buyer Valuation

Abstract

A theoretical model is developed of house market disequilibrium. Price and quantity adjustments occur as the consequence of inventory adjustment in the absence of a market-maker. This approach reveals a process of dynamic adjustment whereby sellers alter their reservation prices in response to implicit time on the market as a signal of excess demand. Unobservable equilibrium house prices are estimated using time on the market and house price data for Glasgow between 1999 and 2007. Empirical estimation models sellers’ reservation price response to the overhang of unsold houses and the excess demand curve within an econometric framework.