Title: Understanding Real Estate Matches through a Semiparametric Panel Model of the Matching Function

Speaker:Taining Wang (Capital University of Economics and Business)

Time: 10:00(Thursday),November 5, 2026

Venue: Room706, Mingde Business Building (Zhongguancun Campus)

Language: Chinese & English

ABSTRACT：

We propose a semiparametric panel model of the real estate matching function, allowing matching elasticities to vary with macroeconomic conditions while controlling for market and time fixed effects. To address the endogeneity arising from unobserved buyer flows, we develop a two-step semiparametric instrumental variable estimator using innovations in sellers’entry flows as internal instruments. Applied to monthly data from 100 U.S. metropolitan housing markets during 2012–2018, the estimation reveals nonlinear negative effects of mortgage andunemployment rates on matching elasticities. Buyer elasticity ranges from 0.25 to 0.98, averaging 0.67, and counterfactual analysis shows sizable macroeconomic effects on housing matches.