Estimating price trends for residential property: A comparison of repeat sales and assessed value methods

John M. Clapp and Carmelo Giaccotto

View Related Documents

Abstract

The repeat sales methodology for estimating residential price indices is based on actual appreciation of individual properties. On the other hand, the repeat sales method wastes data, typically discarding a large percentage of all sales. This article explores two issues related to the subsample of repeat sales. First, are paired sales representative of the entire population of properties that sold? Second, is there evidence that sample selectivity biases the price trend estimates? Evidence from five metropolitan areas supports a negative answer to the first question and the second question. It appears that a ldquolemonrdquo or ldquostarter homerdquo effect causes repeat residential sales to be a biased subsample of all transactions. Cumulative price trends for the repeat subsamples can differ from the full samples over periods ranging from two to ten quarters. While short-term price trends can differ widely, there are no systematic differences among the samples over long periods of time (e.g., three years or more).

Key words  Real estate price indices - Repeat sales - Assessed value - Biased samples

Fulltext Preview

Image of the first page of the fulltext document