Home Buyer Search Duration and the Internet
Name
4271-02.pdf
Size
241.76 KB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
5e8fedaf1da374660d99cbdf823e5c07
Author(s)
D'URSO, VICTORIA T.
Date Issued
May 2, 2003
Series/Report no.
MIT Sloan School of Management Working Paper;4271-02
Abstract
In this study we examine the impact of internet use on the duration of search in the
housing market. We develop a model of partial equilibrium in the housing market
which suggests an ambiguous effect on the search duration when internet resources are
employed. In this model, the impact of using the internet can be viewed as increasing
the search efficiency, or as altering the distribution of potential matches from which the
home buyer can choose. We use data from the 2000 Home Buyer and Seller Survey
collected by the National Association of Realtors. While theory suggests there might
be an increase or a decrease in search times when using on-line resources in the
search, in this data using an Instrumental Quantile Regression approach we find a
tendency for internet use to increase the duration of home search relative to employing
more conventional search methods
Subjects
Sequential Search
Housing Market
Duration, Instrumental Quantile Regression
Persistent DSpace Link
