Pragmatic Socioeconomics: a New Bridge between Sociology and Economics in Housing Studies

Housing price trends and their volatility have become one of the major determinants of wealth and social inequalities, and one of the major factors influencing sustainable economic growth. Despite this, mainstream housing economics has so far failed to capture important factors of price volatility. This project aims to demonstrate the utility of new conceptual framework, called pragmatic socioeconomics, for obtaining a better understanding of (housing) markets and price trends. Specifically, we will study (using quantitative and qualitative sociology) the impact of (1) intergenerational resource transfers within the family and (2) investment behaviour of small residential investors on housing demand and housing price trend (volatility). We will also (3) empirically test different ways how to reliably measure (irrational) housing market sentiment and study its impact on housing demand. The incorporation of sociology into economics can reveal the hidden causes of current and not yet understood trends in the market and housing price developments.