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The Price of Inattention: Evidence from the Swedish Housing Market

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  • Repetto, Luca

    (Department of Economics)

  • Solis, Alex

    (Department of Economics)

Abstract

Do behavioral biases affect prices in a high-stake market? We study the role of left-digit bias in the purchase of an apartment, one of the most important assets in a household’s portfolio. Left-digit bias is the inability to fully process digits after the first, perceiving prices just below a round number (such as $3.99) as cheaper than their round counterpart ($4). We start by documenting that apartments listed at just-below asking prices are sold at a 3-5% higher final price after an auction. This effect appears not to be driven by i) differences in observable characteristics; ii) differences in real estate agents’behavior; or iii) institutional characteristics of the market. We show that apartments using just-below prices attract more bidders and bids, leading to higher competition and to a higher final price. Our results suggest that inattentive buyers might be losing roughly half a year of disposable income.

Suggested Citation

  • Repetto, Luca & Solis, Alex, 2017. "The Price of Inattention: Evidence from the Swedish Housing Market," Working Paper Series 2017:10, Uppsala University, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:hhs:uunewp:2017_010
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    Cited by:

    1. Florian Englmaier & Andreas Roider & Lars Schlereth & Steffen Sebastian, 2023. "Round-Number Effects in Real Estate Prices: Evidence from Germany," CESifo Working Paper Series 10746, CESifo.
    2. Meng, Charlotte C., 2023. "The price paid: Heuristic thinking and biased reference points in the housing market," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 134(C).
    3. Heraud, Florian & Page, Lionel, 2024. "Does the left-digit bias affect prices in financial markets?," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 218(C), pages 20-29.
    4. Ross, Stephen L. & Zhou, Tingyu, 2024. "Loss aversion and focal point bias: Empirical evidence from housing markets," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, Elsevier, vol. 42(C).
    5. Malmendier, Ulrike & Szeidl, Adam, 2020. "Fishing for fools," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 122(C), pages 105-129.
    6. Ity Shurtz, 2022. "Heuristic thinking in the workplace: Evidence from primary care," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 31(8), pages 1713-1729, August.
    7. Weichselbaumer, Michael, 2023. "Unobserved heterogeneity and adjustment to behavioral bias: The case of used cars," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Housing market; auctions; inattention; first-digit bias;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C78 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Game Theory and Bargaining Theory - - - Bargaining Theory; Matching Theory
    • D44 - Microeconomics - - Market Structure, Pricing, and Design - - - Auctions
    • D83 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Search; Learning; Information and Knowledge; Communication; Belief; Unawareness
    • R31 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Real Estate Markets, Spatial Production Analysis, and Firm Location - - - Housing Supply and Markets

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