Skip to main content
Log in

Sample Selection Bias and Repeat-Sales Index Estimates

  • Published:
The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Analysis of variations in house values among localities requires reliable house value indices. Gatzlaff and Haurin (1994) indicate that traditional hedonic house value index estimates, using only information from a sample of sold homes to estimate value movements for the entire housing stock, may be subject to substantial bias. This article extends previous work by adapting the censored sample procedure to the repeat-sales index estimation model. Using data from Dade County, Florida, a house value index constructed from a sample of homes selling more than once, rather than all houses in a locality, is found to be biased. The bias is shown to be highly correlated with changes in economic conditions.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Bailey, M. J., R. F. Muth, and H. O. Nourse. “A Regression Method for Real Estate Price Index Construction.” Journal of the American Statistical Association 58(304) (1963), 933–942.

    Google Scholar 

  • Case, B., and J. Quigley. “The Dynamics of Real Estate Prices,” Review of Economics and Statistics 73(3) (1991), 50–58.

    Google Scholar 

  • Case, B., H. P ollakowski, and S. Wachter. “On Choosing Among House Price Index Methodologies,” AREUEA Journal 19(3) (Fall 1991), 286–307.

    Google Scholar 

  • Case, K., and R. Shiller. “The Efficiency of the Market for Single-Family Homes,” American Economic Review 79(1) (March 1989), 125–37.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dhrymes, P. J. “Limited Dependent Variables.” In Z. Griliches and M. Intrilligator (eds.), Handbook of Econometrics. Amsterdam: Elsevier Science Publishers, 1986.

    Google Scholar 

  • Eller, T. J. Household Wealth and Asset Ownership: 1991. U. S. Bureau of the Census, Current Population Reports. Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office, P70–34, 1994.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fishe, R. P., R. P. Trost, and P. Lurie. “Labor Force Earnings and College Choice of Young Women: An Examination of Selectivity Bias and Comparative Advantage,” Economics of Education Review 1 (1981), 169–191.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gatzlaff, D., and D. Haurin. “Sample Selection and Biases in Local House Value Indices.” Working paper, The Ohio State University, 1994.

  • Gatzlaff, D., and D. Ling. “Measuring Changes in Local House Prices: An Empirical Investigation of Alternative Methodologies,” Journal of Urban Economics 35(2) (1994), 221–244.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goodman, A., and T. Thibodeau. “Heteroskedasticity in Repeat-Sale House Price Equations.” Working paper, Wayne State University, 1995.

  • Greene, W. “Sample Selection Bias as a Specification Error: Comment,” Econometrica 49(3) (May 1981), 795–798.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hartzell, D., R. Pittman, and D. Downs. “An Updated Look at the Size of the U.S. Real Estate Market Portfolio,” Journal of Real Estate Research 9(2) (Spring 1994), 197–212.

    Google Scholar 

  • Haurin, D., and P. Hendershott. “House Price Indexes: Issues and Results,” AREUEA Journal 19(3) (Fall 1991), 259–269.

    Google Scholar 

  • Heckman, J. “Shadow Prices, Market Wages, and Labor Supply,” Econometrica 42 (1974), 679–694.

    Google Scholar 

  • Heckman, J. “Sample Selection Bias as a Specification Error,” Econometrica 47 (1979), 153–161.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hendershott, P., and T. Thibodeau. “The Relationship between Median and Constant Quality House Prices: Implications for Setting FHA Loan Limits,” AREUEA Journal 18(3) (Fall 1990), 323–334.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hosios, A. J., and J. E. Pesando. “Measuring Prices in Resale Housing Markets in Canada: Evidence and Implications,” Journal of Housing Economics 1(1) (1991), 1–15.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ihlanfeldt, K. R., and J. Martinez-Vazquez. “Alternative Value Estimates of Owner-Occupied Housing: Evidence on Sample Selection Bias and Systematic Errors,” Journal Of Urban Economics 20(3) (November 1986), 357–369.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lancaster, T., and A. Chesher. “Stock and Flow Sampling,” Economics Letters 8 (1981), 63–65.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lee, Lung-Fei, and G. S. Maddala. “Sequential Selection Rules and Selectivity in Discrete Choice Econometric Models,” Econometric Methods and Applications II. 1985, pp. 311–329.

  • Maddala, G.S. Limited Dependent and Qualitative Variables in Econometrics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1985.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mankiw, G., and D. Weil. “The Baby Boom, the Baby Bust, and the Housing Market,” Regional Science and Urban Economics 19(2) (May 1989), 235–258.

    Google Scholar 

  • Poirier, D. J. “Partial Observability in Bivariate Probit Models,” Journal of Econometrics 12 (1980), 209–219.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rosen, S. “Hedonic Prices and Implicit Markets: Product Differentiation in Pure Competition,” Journal of Political Economy 82(1) (1974), 34–55.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tallis, G. M. “The Moment Generating Function of the Truncated Multi-Normal Distribution,” Journal of the Royal Statistical Society. (Series B) 23 (1961), 223–229.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tunali, I. “A Common Structure for Models of Double Selection.” Working paper, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1983.

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Gatzlaff, D.H., Haurin, D.R. Sample Selection Bias and Repeat-Sales Index Estimates. The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics 14, 33–50 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1007763816289

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1007763816289

Navigation