Mean Reversion in Housing Markets

Abstract

Booms in house prices are usually followed by busts. This pattern is called "mean reversion." Mean reversion in housing markets has historically coincided with economic recessions across the world. Chapter 1 establishes mean reversion in U.S. data, and attempts to explain it using the dynamics of wages in cities. Chapter 2 takes a different approach. It models mean reversion resulting from speculation and uncertainty. This model explains why strong mean reversion in prices occurs in cities where it is easy to build houses, a phenomenon that Chapter 1 cannot explain. Chapter 3 takes the spirit of Chapter 2 and applies it to the optimal design of the income tax.