IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/regeco/v74y2019icp131-143.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The German real estate transfer tax: Evidence for single-family home transactions

Author

Listed:
  • Fritzsche, Carolin
  • Vandrei, Lars

Abstract

This paper uses recent data for single-family home purchases to study the effects of the German real estate transfer tax. We aim to separate the tax's anticipatory effects from its lock-in effects on real estate transactions. The data indicate that an increase in the transfer tax is negatively correlated with the number of transactions that take place in the market for single-family homes. We estimate that an increase in the transfer tax produces enormous anticipation effects: 41% more transactions for the month just before and 42% fewer transactions just after. In addition, a one-percentage-point increase in the transfer tax yields approximately 7% fewer transactions due to the lock-in effect.

Suggested Citation

  • Fritzsche, Carolin & Vandrei, Lars, 2019. "The German real estate transfer tax: Evidence for single-family home transactions," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 131-143.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:regeco:v:74:y:2019:i:c:p:131-143
    DOI: 10.1016/j.regsciurbeco.2018.08.005
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0166046217300030
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.regsciurbeco.2018.08.005?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to look for a different version below or search for a different version of it.

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Wojciech Kopczuk & David Munroe, 2015. "Mansion Tax: The Effect of Transfer Taxes on the Residential Real Estate Market," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 7(2), pages 214-257, May.
    2. Ross, Stephen L. & Zenou, Yves, 2008. "Are shirking and leisure substitutable? An empirical test of efficiency wages based on urban economic theory," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 38(5), pages 498-517, September.
    3. Edward L. Glaeser & Erzo F. P. Luttmer, 2003. "The Misallocation of Housing Under Rent Control," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 93(4), pages 1027-1046, September.
    4. Ben Dachis & Gilles Duranton & Matthew A. Turner, 2012. "The effects of land transfer taxes on real estate markets: evidence from a natural experiment in Toronto," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 12(2), pages 327-354, March.
    5. Richard H. Thaler, 2008. "Mental Accounting and Consumer Choice," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 27(1), pages 15-25, 01-02.
    6. Manuela Krause & Niklas Potrafke, 2020. "The Real Estate Transfer Tax and Government Ideology: Evidence from the German States," FinanzArchiv: Public Finance Analysis, Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen, vol. 76(1), pages 100-120.
    7. Benjamin, John D & Coulson, N Edward & Yang, Shiawee X, 1993. "Real Estate Transfer Taxes and Property Values: The Philadelphia Story," The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, Springer, vol. 7(2), pages 151-157, September.
    8. Besley, Timothy & Meads, Neil & Surico, Paolo, 2014. "The incidence of transaction taxes: Evidence from a stamp duty holiday," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 61-70.
    9. Dan Andrews & Aida Caldera Sánchez & Åsa Johansson, 2011. "Housing Markets and Structural Policies in OECD Countries," OECD Economics Department Working Papers 836, OECD Publishing.
    10. Ian Davidoff & Andrew Leigh, 2013. "How Do Stamp Duties Affect the Housing Market?," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 89(286), pages 396-410, September.
    11. Büttner, Thiess, 2017. "Welfare Cost of the Real Estate Transfer Tax," VfS Annual Conference 2017 (Vienna): Alternative Structures for Money and Banking 168308, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    12. White, Halbert, 1980. "A Heteroskedasticity-Consistent Covariance Matrix Estimator and a Direct Test for Heteroskedasticity," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 48(4), pages 817-838, May.
    13. Nicole Aregger & Martin Brown & Dr. Enzo Rossi, 2013. "Transaction Taxes, Capital Gains Taxes and House Prices," Working Papers 2013-02, Swiss National Bank.
    14. Kawata, Keisuke & Nakajima, Kentaro & Sato, Yasuhiro, 2016. "Multi-region job search with moving costs," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 114-129.
    15. Crowe, Christopher & Dell’Ariccia, Giovanni & Igan, Deniz & Rabanal, Pau, 2013. "How to deal with real estate booms: Lessons from country experiences," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 9(3), pages 300-319.
    16. Jos Van Ommeren & Michiel Van Leuvensteijn, 2005. "New Evidence of the Effect of Transaction Costs on Residential Mobility," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 45(4), pages 681-702, November.
    17. European Commission, 2015. "Tax reforms in EU Member States - 2015 Report," Taxation Papers 58, Directorate General Taxation and Customs Union, European Commission.
    18. Petkova, Kunka & Weichenrieder, Alfons, 2017. "Price and Quantity Effects of the German Real Estate Transfer Tax," VfS Annual Conference 2017 (Vienna): Alternative Structures for Money and Banking 168305, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    19. Pietro Catte & Nathalie Girouard & Robert Price & Christophe André, 2004. "Housing Markets, Wealth and the Business Cycle," OECD Economics Department Working Papers 394, OECD Publishing.
    20. Heitel, Stephanie & Lohse, Moritz & Zahn, Michael & Pfnür, Andreas & Damianakis, Manuela, 2011. "Wohnungswirtschaft im Wandel: Möglichkeiten und Grenzen öffentlicher Finanzierung in der Wohnraumversorgung," Publications of Darmstadt Technical University, Institute for Business Studies (BWL) 50382, Darmstadt Technical University, Department of Business Administration, Economics and Law, Institute for Business Studies (BWL).
    21. Zhou, Zhengyi, 2016. "Overreaction to policy changes in the housing market: Evidence from Shanghai," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 26-41.
    22. Slemrod, Joel & Weber, Caroline & Shan, Hui, 2017. "The behavioral response to housing transfer taxes: Evidence from a notched change in D.C. policy," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 100(C), pages 137-153.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Carolin Fritzsche & Lucas Rohleder, 2017. "Effekte von Änderungen der Grunderwerbsteuer – Ein Überblick über die Ergebnisse internationaler Studien," ifo Dresden berichtet, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 24(05), pages 09-14, October.
    2. Christofzik, Désirée I. & Feld, Lars P. & Yeter, Mustafa, 2020. "Heterogeneous price and quantity effects of the real estate transfer tax in Germany," Freiburg Discussion Papers on Constitutional Economics 20/10, Walter Eucken Institut e.V..
    3. Kunka Petkova & Alfons J. Weichenrieder & Alfons Weichenrieder, 2017. "Price and Quantity Effects of the German Real Estate Transfer Tax," CESifo Working Paper Series 6538, CESifo.
    4. Thiess Büttner, 2017. "Welfare Cost of the Real Estate Transfer Tax," CESifo Working Paper Series 6321, CESifo.
    5. Christian A. L. Hilber & Teemu Lyytikäinen, 2012. "The Effect of the UK Stamp Duty Land Tax on Household Mobility," SERC Discussion Papers 0115, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    6. Clemens Fuest & Mathias Dolls & Carla Krolage & Florian Neumeier, 2019. "Who Bears the Burden of Real Estate Transfer Taxes? Evidence from the German Housing Market," ifo Working Paper Series 308, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich.
    7. Manning Clifford & John Freebairn, 2021. "Stamp duty and equity in Australia," Melbourne Institute Working Paper Series wp2021n08, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, The University of Melbourne.
    8. Petkova, Kunka & Weichenrieder, Alfons J., 2019. "Grunderwerbsteuer: Eine Steuer für das 21. Jahrhundert?," SAFE White Paper Series 58, Leibniz Institute for Financial Research SAFE.
    9. Hilber, Christian A.L. & Lyytikäinen, Teemu, 2017. "Transfer taxes and household mobility: Distortion on the housing or labor market?," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 101(C), pages 57-73.
    10. Essi Eerola & Oskari Harjunen & Teemu Lyytikäinen & Tuukka Saarimaa, 2019. "Effects of Housing Transfer Taxes on Household Mobility," CESifo Working Paper Series 7750, CESifo.
    11. Eerola, Essi & Harjunen, Oskari & Lyytikäinen, Teemu & Saarimaa, Tuukka, 2021. "Revisiting the effects of housing transfer taxes," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 124(C).
    12. Elisabeth Arnold & Katharina Falkner & Margit Schratzenstaller & Franz Sinabell, 2023. "Auswirkungen des Flächenverbrauchs für die Versorgungssicherheit und steuerliche Instrumente zu dessen Eindämmung," WIFO Studies, WIFO, number 71122.
    13. Ian Davidoff & Andrew Leigh, 2013. "How Do Stamp Duties Affect the Housing Market?," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 89(286), pages 396-410, September.
    14. Mathilde POULHES, 2020. "Housing Market Responses to Transfer Taxes: Evidence from a French Reform," Working Papers 2020-23, Center for Research in Economics and Statistics.
    15. Terviö, Marko & Määttänen, Niku, 2017. "Welfare Effects of Housing Transaction Taxes," CEPR Discussion Papers 12551, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    16. Guillaume Bérard & Alain Trannoy, 2017. "The Impact of a Rise in the Real Estate Transfer Taxes on the French Housing Market," Working Papers halshs-01582528, HAL.
    17. Divya Singh, 2020. "Do Property Tax Incentives for New Construction Spur Gentrification? Evidence from New York City," 2020 Papers psi856, Job Market Papers.
    18. Susana Peralta & João Pereira dos Santos & Duarte Gonçalves, 2020. "Do short-term rentals increase housing prices? Quasi-experimental evidence from Lisbon," GEE Papers 0155, Gabinete de Estratégia e Estudos, Ministério da Economia, revised Jul 2020.
    19. Essi Eerola, 2017. "Macroprudential measures in the housing markets – a note on the empirical literature," Journal of Risk Finance, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 18(3), pages 326-335, May.
    20. Daniel Borbely, 2021. "Limiting the distortionary effects of transaction taxes: Scottish stamp duty after the Mirrlees Review," Fiscal Studies, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 42(2), pages 265-290, June.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Real estate transfer tax; Housing markets; Property taxation; Anticipation effects; Lock-in;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H20 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - General
    • H71 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations - - - State and Local Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue
    • R30 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Real Estate Markets, Spatial Production Analysis, and Firm Location - - - General

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:regeco:v:74:y:2019:i:c:p:131-143. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/regec .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.