The first step on the housing ladder : a natural experiment in Hong Kong

Research output: Journal PublicationsJournal Article (refereed)peer-review

13 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The article presents and illuminates evidence, based on recent Hong Kong experience, indicating the existence of a "housing ladder effect" when housing prices increase or decrease. An increase of housing equity at the bottom of the ladder tends to translate into a trading up activity that will both increase housing market turnover and buoy up the entire housing market. Based on a natural experiment through the introduction of a public housing privatization scheme, this article demonstrates the importance of the first step on the housing ladder using a logit model.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)59-67
Number of pages9
JournalJournal of Housing Economics
Volume18
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Mar 2009

Bibliographical note

We would like to thank Don Haurin, Francois Ortalo-Magne, Charles Leung, and two anonymous referees for valuable comments and suggestions on early versions of the paper.

Funding

Support from the RGC Grants Committee of Hong Kong (LU3008/00H) is gratefully acknowledged.

Keywords

  • Housing ladder
  • Ladder effect
  • Logit model
  • Natural experiment
  • Public housing privatization

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