Boom and Bust: A Look at Housing Bubbles 1980–2010

The volatility in housing markets in recent years has been well-documented, at least since 2008 resulting in a staggering loss of wealth and millions of foreclosures, and of course considered a trigger for the current recession. James R. Follain and Seth H. Giertz, co-authors of A Look at US House Price Bubbles from 1980–2010 and the Role of Local Market Conditions, a Lincoln Institute working paper, investigated the relationship between housing prices and several explanatory variables for a large panel of U.S. Metropolitan Statistical Areas, to gain insight into the ex ante likelihood that price bubbles are present.