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Do People Overreact? Evidence from the Housing Market After the Wenchuan Earthquake

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  • Guoying Deng
  • Li Gan
  • Manuel A. Hernandez

Abstract

This paper uses the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake in China as a natural experiment to examine how the housing market reacted to this unforeseen, extreme event. We use a unique transaction dataset for new (under construction) apartment units to analyze the pricing behavior of units in lower versus upper floors before and after the earthquake. We observe that average housing prices decreased after the tremor. However, the relative price of low to high floor units, particularly units located in the first and second floor, considerably increased for several months after the earthquake. This relative pricing pattern is in line with a higher risk perception and fear, triggered after the tremor, of living in upper floors. Additional robustness checks support the apparent overreaction of individuals to a dramatic event.

Suggested Citation

  • Guoying Deng & Li Gan & Manuel A. Hernandez, 2013. "Do People Overreact? Evidence from the Housing Market After the Wenchuan Earthquake," NBER Working Papers 19515, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:19515
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    1. Tsai, Pei-Hsuan & Wang, Ying-Wei & Chang, Wen-Chang, 2023. "Hybrid MADM-based study of key risk factors in house-for-pension reverse mortgage lending in Taiwan's banking industry," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).
    2. Yuming Fu & Song Shi, 2022. "Barriers to urban spatial development: Evidence from the 2010–2011 Christchurch earthquakes," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 62(1), pages 218-245, January.
    3. 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.
    4. Matthew A. Cole & Robert J R Elliott & Toshihiro Okubo & Eric Strobl, 2014. "Natural Disasters and the Birth, Life and Death of Plants: The Case of the Kobe Earthquake," Working Papers 2014-114, Department of Research, Ipag Business School.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • Q54 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Climate; Natural Disasters and their Management; Global Warming
    • R21 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Household Analysis - - - Housing Demand
    • R31 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Real Estate Markets, Spatial Production Analysis, and Firm Location - - - Housing Supply and Markets

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