Lei Ma

New construction has favored bigger, more expensive houses. This paper studies the causes of this pattern and evaluates the equilibrium impacts of proposed housing policies aimed at improving affordability at the lower end of the market. I develop an equilibrium model of segmented housing markets with two key features: (1) heterogeneous household preferences for housing quality by demographics, and (2) endogenous housing supply with heterogeneous development costs by housing quality. Using microdata on household housing choices and parcel-specific development costs for single-family homes in the Atlanta MSA, I find that the shift toward large home construction is partly driven by demand from high-income households, who are less price-sensitive and prefer larger homes, but zoning density restrictions play a more significant role in limiting the construction of smaller homes. Relaxing these restrictions could expand the supply of small homes and benefit low-income households, but such zoning reforms are often politically challenging. As an alternative, I evaluate the impact of recently proposed housing subsidies targeting first-time homebuyers and starter homes. The model predicts that subsidizing young, low-income households provides substantial targeted welfare gains to recipients but hurts others due to rising prices. By contrast, subsidies to small home construction increase the supply of small homes but crowd out the construction of larger homes, resulting in modest welfare gains without effectively targeting those most in need.

This study investigates the financial disparities Black sellers face in the US housing market. Using repeat-sale transactions from 2003 to 2020, we document that Black sellers earn, on average, 0.36% lower annualized unlevered returns on their property sales compared to non-Black sellers. These racial disparities in housing returns cannot be explained by seller characteristics, property renovations, the buyer's race, seller agent fixed effects, and appraisal measures. However, we find significant racial gaps in listing prices and time on market, which we attribute to intermediaries involved in housing transactions. Controlling for these factors reduces the racial gap in returns to effectively zero. Additionally, we find that when homes are sold to iBuyers, where human intermediary bias is removed, the racial gap in housing returns disappears. Our findings suggest that Black sellers experience higher search frictions, leading to worse selling outcomes.

Since 2012, institutional buy-to-rent (B2R) investors have entered the single-family rental market, converting a substantial number of owner-occupied homes into rental properties. This study examines the impact of B2R investors on local housing markets, providing reduced-form evidence on the size and origin of spillover effects resulting from their presence. An additional property by B2R investors within 150 meters increases housing price growth by 2-3%. The impact is more pronounced in neighborhoods with a higher share of Black residents and lower property values. The reduced supply of owner-occupied housing and improvements in local amenities are key factors driving the positive spillover effects on housing prices.

The local residential move rate has declined by 50 percent over the past 35 years, but little is known about the underlying factors driving the long-run decline. This paper begins by examining the impact of demographic shifts on local moving trends. I find that changes in age, homeownership, race, income and marital status can explain approximately 25 percent of the overall decline. Then I explore two key mechanisms contributing to the long-term decline. Using an instrumental variable approach, I evaluate the causal impact of family life events and housing costs on local moves. The results indicate that the decrease in marriage rates accounts for at least 30 percent of the move rate decline, while rising rents have significantly lowered the mobility of renters in the last 15 years. These findings imply that the overall decline in local moves is primarily attributed to the diminishing benefits associated with relocations, but it is evident that rising housing costs are increasingly trapping renters in place.