China's Real Estate Markets
Paper Session
Saturday, Jan. 4, 2025 10:15 AM - 12:15 PM (PST)
- Chair: Qinghua Zhang, Peking University
Competitive Human Capital Accumulation and Housing Prices
Abstract
If housing ownership conveys a right to access certain education resources, there would be a “good-school” premium embedded in the housing prices. If the degree of marriage market competition translates into different intensity of competition in human capital accumulation, then the size of “good school premium” can reflect such competition. We estimate such effect using a manually collected information on top primary schools in 33 Chinese cities, combined with micro- level housing market information in the sample. Using the sex ratio for the 20-34 age cohort as a measure of local marriage market competition, we find robust evidence that the sex ratio is a stronger predictor for the size of the “good school” premium.A Matter of Looks: Evidence from Real Estate Agent Appearance on Sales Performance
Abstract
This study provides new evidence on the impact of sales agents' appearance on their sales performance in the real estate industry. Leveraging a distinctive micro-level dataset encompassing detailed property transactions across major Chinese cities, we employ machine learning algorithms to objectively measure facial attractiveness and masculinity/femininity for 35,836 real estate agents. We then analyze the relationships between these factors and both the client-matching process and sales performance. To conduct cross-validation, we assess our machine-learning-generated facial ratings by comparing them with ratings provided by human raters through face-to-face surveys. After controlling for agents' accumulated work experiences and considering a comprehensive range of housing characteristics, our findings reveal a significant positive correlation between facial attractiveness and sales performance. This relationship is particularly notable in terms of client matching quality, properties' time on the market, and transaction prices. We also explore other potential mechanisms through which agents' appearance affects performance, such as selection bias, buyer-seller gender composition, and agents' performance of femininity. However, none explains the beauty premium. Furthermore, female agents with higher levels of femininity tend to experience slower selling speeds, while male agents with more feminine attributes seem to possess an advantage in selling properties at higher transaction prices.Mortgage Credit and Housing Markets
Abstract
his paper investigates how mortgage credit conditions affect housing market outcomes and household welfare. Using unique transaction data from China, I estimate a structural model of housing demand and supply in secondary housing markets, characterizing the illiquidity of housing markets and participants' relative market position. With counterfactual experiments, I quantify the impact of marginal changes in mortgage credit conditions and real estate taxes over varying time horizons on housing market microstructure and house prices. Furthermore, the paper analyzes the distributional effects of these changes and examines the role of market frictions in shaping market outcomes and household welfare.Discussant(s)
Yang (Zoe) Yang
,
Chinese University of Hong Kong
Robert French
,
Harvard Kennedy School
Sonia Gilbukh
,
CUNY-Baruch College
Sisi Zhang
,
Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia
JEL Classifications
- R0 - General