Housing unit has a close relation with business cycle variation as an expensive goods as well as an asset of creating capital gain. In case of Korea, in particular, as 80% of assets held by national household is concentrated on real estate, housing ma...
Housing unit has a close relation with business cycle variation as an expensive goods as well as an asset of creating capital gain. In case of Korea, in particular, as 80% of assets held by national household is concentrated on real estate, housing market is unable to be separately existed from overall economy. But market intervention by the government is inevitably necessitated as an efficient resources allocation is not taken place in the housing market that is a typically incomplete competition market and the government tries to minimize unbalance of demand and supply in a long-term perspective aiming at stabilizing housing price. However, when observing existing real estate policy of the government, it is criticized for failing to present a basic solutions by repeating an ex-post announcement of real estate policy depending on housing price fluctuation without systematic understanding for the real estate market. Under this background, this study is intended to deduce an institutional implications through a dynamic correlation between housing price and macroeconomic variables by identifying it theoretically and empirically.
In order to realize the objective of this study, a dynamic correlation between macroeconomic variables and housing unit trading (sales) price was analyzed by establishing VAR model during the period from October, 2003 to November, 2003. Industrial production index, return of corporate bond and house mortgage loan were selected as macroeconomic variables by using dynamic equilibrium theory of Lastrapes (2002) and monthly data was used by selecting apartment sale market of 25 districts of Seoul as housing submarket.
First, as a result of unit root verification for stability of time series data, unstability of original time series was confirmed and so, by using primarily differentiated time series, stability of data was secured. Afterwards, as it was confirmed that a relation of long-term equilibrium among variables was not evident as a result of cointegration verification, VAR model was established. In addition, as a result of observing verification of Granger causality, significant exogenous factors of VAR model variables were represented to be in the order of industrial production index -> return of corporate bond ->house mortgage loan -> sales price index and it was confirmed that an effect of macroeconomic variables on each area was different. As a result of impulse response analysis, industrial production index, a proxy variable of real business area and basic market value, showed positive (+) influence, return of corporate bond, a proxy variable of portfolio value, negative (-) influence and house mortgage loan, a proxy variable of house financing fluctuation, a positive (+) influence, respectively, in the same way as dynamic equilibrium theory of Lastrapes (2002).
Housing submarket was classified into the categories of good, fair and poor depending on the level of being influenced by macroeconomic variable by using the outcome of empirical analysis. As a result, as a supra region in Gangbuk district, Eunpyeong-gu was solely included and 3 districts of Gangnam and Yangchoen-gu and Gangdong-gu that are bubble seven region were included as well.
House sales price together with consumption and income of these regions is regionally high as a whole and regions located at Seoul among bubble 7 regions were included in this category at the same time. Houses of these regions used to be purchased based on its intrinsic asset value as well as a concept of residing service and housing price of these regions is generally anticipated to rise in the future.
As a sub region in Gangnam district, only Geumcheon-gu was included and the remaining regions such as Jung-gu, Jongno-gu, Jungrang-gu, Dongdaemun-gu and Yongsan-gu were included in Gangbuk district. As a whole, in these regions, a function of business facility or commercial area rather than residing function is prevailing and as it comprises a traditional old downtown dominantly, fluctuation of house sales price is not relatively significant.
The objective of this study is to suggest an institutional implication based on the result of dynamic correlation analysis between housing price and macroeconomic variables and its suggestion is as follows.
First, the most important point in establishing housing policy is to maximize an institutional effect by maintaining harmony between macroscopic and comprehensive arrangement of countermeasure and microscopic and regional arrangement of countermeasure. In order to achieve this objective, understanding for housing submarket as a policy target is required to become a foundation and a belief that an appropriate (housing) policy would be executed consistently in a proper time is required to be addressed to economic main agents.
Second, as house mortgage loan plays an important role in housing market, a macroscopic sensational (impressive) policy for house mortgage loan based on which ratio or review of house mortgage loan is implemented flexibly depending on housing market situation is required to be strengthened.
Third, as housing sale price itself exerts a significant and sustained effect on housing market, an institutional consideration for stabilizing housing sales price itself is required as well.
Fourth, liquidity is required to be increased by maintaining low interest rate in order to stimulate the economy but if excessive liquidity should be flowed into housing market, it may lead to rapid increase of housing price and in this case, restriction on housing demand is required to be maintained.
Fifth, in preparation for surge of housing price due to increased liquidity, public housing is required to be supplied by minimizing its margin.
Sixth, as housing submarket reacts differently under the same variable, an effort of identifying the features of submarket itself and trying to implement a policy fit for such features is required. As mentioned previously, data classifying housing submarket into good, fair and poor categories may be useful for this effort.
Finally, quantitative effect of real estate policy so far implemented by the government is required to be discussed. It is considered that real estate policy is required to be implemented carefully as a policy of restricting real estate business occasionally results in stimulating real estate business instead and its ripple effect over overall economy is enormous.