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Do Rising Tides Lift All Prices? Income Inequality and Housing Affordability

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  • Janna L. Matlack
  • Jacob L. Vigdor
Abstract
Simple partial-equilibrium models suggest that income increases at the high end of the distribution can raise price paid by those at the low end of the income distribution. This prediction does not universally hold in a general equilibrium model, or in models where the rich and poor consume distinct products. We use Census microdata to evaluate these predictions empirically, using data on housing markets in American metropolitan areas between 1970 and 2000. Evidence clearly and unsurprisingly shows that decreases in one's own income lead to less housing consumption and less income left over after paying for housing. The effect of increases in others' income, holding one's own income constant, is more nuanced. In tight housing markets, the poor do worse when the rich get richer. In slack markets, at least some evidence suggests that increases in others' income, holding own income constant, may be beneficial.

Suggested Citation

  • Janna L. Matlack & Jacob L. Vigdor, 2006. "Do Rising Tides Lift All Prices? Income Inequality and Housing Affordability," NBER Working Papers 12331, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:12331
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    Cited by:

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    3. Caroline Dewilde & Bram Lancee, 2012. "GINI DP 32: Income Inequality and Access to Housing in Europe," GINI Discussion Papers 32, AIAS, Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Labour Studies.
    4. Gregory J. Colman & Dahlia K. Remler, 2008. "Vertical equity consequences of very high cigarette tax increases: If the poor are the ones smoking, how could cigarette tax increases be progressive?," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 27(2), pages 376-400.
    5. Zhao, Qingbin & Li, Guoqiang & Gu, Xinhua & Lei, Chun Kwok, 2021. "Inequality hikes, saving surges, and housing bubbles," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 349-363.
    6. Caroline Dewilde, 2011. "GINI DP 18: The interplay between economic inequality trends and housing regime changes in advanced welfare democracies," GINI Discussion Papers 18, AIAS, Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Labour Studies.
    7. Zhang, Chuanchuan & Jia, Shen & Yang, Rudai, 2016. "Housing affordability and housing vacancy in China: The role of income inequality," Journal of Housing Economics, Elsevier, vol. 33(C), pages 4-14.
    8. Marianne Bertrand & Adair Morse, 2016. "Trickle-Down Consumption," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 98(5), pages 863-879, December.
    9. Kyungmin Kim, 2020. "Income inequality and house prices in the United States: A panel VAR analysis," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 40(3), pages 2111-2120.
    10. Hassani, Hossein & Yeganegi, Mohammad Reza & Gupta, Rangan, 2019. "Does inequality really matter in forecasting real housing returns of the United Kingdom?," International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 159(C), pages 18-25.
    11. Gu, Xinhua & Li, Guoqiang & Chang, Xiao & Guo, Haizhen, 2017. "Casino tourism, economic inequality, and housing bubbles," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 253-263.
    12. Randall Akee & Maggie R. Jones & Sonya R. Porter, 2019. "Race Matters: Income Shares, Income Inequality, and Income Mobility for All U.S. Races," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 56(3), pages 999-1021, June.
    13. Stefani, Alessia De, 2020. "Debt, inequality and house prices: Explaining the dynamics of household borrowing prior to the great recession," Journal of Housing Economics, Elsevier, vol. 47(C).
    14. Behringer, Jan & Endres, Lukas & van Treeck, Till, 2023. "Income inequality, household consumption and status competition in Germany," ifso working paper series 25, University of Duisburg-Essen, Institute for Socioeconomics (ifso).
    15. Gabriel, Stuart & Painter, Gary, 2020. "Why affordability matters," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    16. Francisco Alvarez‐Cuadrado & Mayssun El‐Attar Vilalta, 2018. "Income Inequality and Saving," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 80(6), pages 1029-1061, December.
    17. Andrius Kučas & Boyan Kavalov & Carlo Lavalle, 2020. "Living Cost Gap in the European Union Member States," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(21), pages 1-26, October.
    18. Sholeh A. Maani & Rhema Vaithianathan & Barbara Wolfe, 2006. "Inequality and Health: Is Housing Crowding the Link?," Working Papers 06_09, Motu Economic and Public Policy Research.
    19. Marilena Mironiuc & Elena Ionașcu & Maria Carmen Huian & Alina Țaran, 2021. "Reflecting the Sustainability Dimensions on the Residential Real Estate Prices," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(5), pages 1-28, March.
    20. Thomas Goda & Chris Stewart & Alejandro Torres García, 2016. "Absolute Income Inequality and Rising House Prices," Documentos de Trabajo de Valor Público 15247, Universidad EAFIT.
    21. Christina Stacy & Chris Davis & Yonah Slifkin Freemark & Lydia Lo & Graham MacDonald & Vivian Zheng & Rolf Pendall, 2023. "Land-use reforms and housing costs: Does allowing for increased density lead to greater affordability?," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 60(14), pages 2919-2940, November.
    22. Joachim Möller, 2009. "Regional variations in the price of building land: a spatial econometrics approach for West Germany," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 43(1), pages 113-132, March.
    23. Zhang, Chuanchuan, 2015. "Income inequality and access to housing: Evidence from China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 261-271.
    24. Michael Manville & Michael Lens & Paavo Monkkonen, 2022. "Zoning and affordability: A reply to Rodríguez-Pose and Storper," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 59(1), pages 36-58, January.
    25. Hongwei Dong, 2018. "The impact of income inequality on rental affordability: An empirical study in large American metropolitan areas," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 55(10), pages 2106-2122, August.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D12 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Consumer Economics: Empirical Analysis
    • D31 - Microeconomics - - Distribution - - - Personal Income and Wealth Distribution
    • I31 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - General Welfare, Well-Being
    • R21 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Household Analysis - - - Housing Demand

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