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Money Illusion and Housing Frenzies

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  • Markus K. Brunnermeier
  • Christian Julliard

Abstract

A reduction in inflation can fuel run-ups in housing prices if people suffer from money illusion. For example, investors who decide whether to rent or buy a house by simply comparing monthly rent and mortgage payments do not take into account the fact that inflation lowers future real mortgage costs. We decompose the price-rent ratio into a rational component—meant to capture the 'proxy effect' and risk premia—and an implied mispricing. We find that inflation and nominalinterest rates explain a large share of the time series variation of the mispricing, and that the tilt effect is very unlikely to rationalize this finding. The Author 2007. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Society for Financial Studies. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: [email protected], Oxford University Press.

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  • Markus K. Brunnermeier & Christian Julliard, 2008. "Money Illusion and Housing Frenzies," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 21(1), pages 135-180, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:rfinst:v:21:y:2008:i:1:p:135-180
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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • G12 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Asset Pricing; Trading Volume; Bond Interest Rates
    • R2 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Household Analysis

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