Abstract/Summary

This study is the first to examine herding and reverse herding in US metropolitan housing markets based on Zillow ZIP-level house price indices. Reverse herding is found to be more prevalent than herding, which differs markedly from equity markets and outcomes derived from less granular house price indices. The results suggest that the interaction between price appreciation and overconfidence may drive reverse herding. Also, herding and reverse herding show strong dependency on market conditions. Wide spatial and temporal variation in herding and reverse herding suggests the importance of local characteristics as determinants of the rationality of market responses.