What Characterizes Cycles with Crashes versus Corrections in the House Market? An Empirical Test on Price Behaviour Based on Economic Key Indicators
Abstract
This thesis aims to examine and compare the cycles characterized by crashes and corrections
in the Norwegian house market, by focusing on crucial economic indicators. By employing
descriptive analysis and time-series Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) regression, we examine
two periods characterized by crashes and corrections.
Subsequently, we shall delve into crisis theory and the dynamics between supply and
demand. Contrary to previous studies, which primarily focused on the outcomes of bubbles
and crashes in the house market, our thesis will focus on the differences between cycles with
crash and correction.
To examine the differences, our paper deploys Hodrick-Prescott filtering to monitor real
house prices and observe how they deviate from the long-term trend. We discuss the
economic indicators such as GDP, nominal income, nominal interest rate, Price/Rent (P/R)
ratio, house stock, unemployment rate, money supply, and credit volume, and analyse how
they affect house prices.
The outcome from our analysis illustrates that during both crashes and corrections, house
prices were significantly influenced by changes in credit volume and money supply. In
scenarios with crashes, these factors contribute to the inflation of house prices and bubble
tendencies, eventually leading to a bubble burst and subsequent market collapse. The
findings further reveal that unemployment rate and house stock significantly influence the
market during crashes, whereas their importance diminishes during corrections. The P/R
ratio considerably impacted the model for both types of market cycles. However, in periods
with crashes, it increases more over time. Conversely, nominal interest rate, GDP, or
nominal income did not significantly influence the model.