House prices and household mobility in the Netherlands: Empirical analyses of financial characteristics of the household

Abstract

The dissertation studies the role of financial household characteristics in the determination of house prices and household mobility in the Dutch owner-occupied housing market. We investigate how various financial characteristics -- in particular income, wealth, housing equity, and prospective losses -- influence the behavior of households in the housing market. The study focuses on three research questions: (i) What is the effect of the relative financial positions of sellers and buyers on house prices? (ii) How do negative equity and loss aversion affect household mobility? (iii) What is the effect of negative equity and loss aversion on house prices? We present evidence that financial household characteristics play an important role in explaining household behavior in the owner-occupied housing market; that is, financial household characteristics influence both house prices and household mobility.