Making the House a Home: The Stimulative Effect of Home Purchases on Consumption and Investment

Efraim Benmelech, Adam Guren, Brian T. Melzer*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

8 Scopus citations

Abstract

We introduce and quantify a new channel through which the housing market affects household spending: the home purchase channel. Households spend on average $8,000 more on home-related durables and home improvements in the 2 years following a home purchase. Expenditures on nondurables and durables unrelated to the home remain unchanged or decrease modestly. The home purchase channel played a substantial role in the Great Recession, accounting for one-third of the decline in spending on home-related durables and home improvements from 2005 to 2010.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)122-154
Number of pages33
JournalReview of Financial Studies
Volume36
Issue number1
Early online dateJul 5 2022
DOIs
StatePublished - Jan 1 2023

Keywords

  • D12
  • E21
  • E22
  • G50
  • R21
  • PRICES
  • WEALTH
  • EQUITY

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Accounting
  • Finance
  • Economics and Econometrics

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