Housing Market Search

Abstract

Search and the resulting selection, be it for housing or other goods, is a fundamental part of consumer behaviour. In the real-estate market and the process of residential mobility, our neighbourhood searches will determine where we will buy or rent. It may be a temporary rental but where we look will ultimately influence where we live. Our searches are of course conditioned by budget constraints, and our preferences for particular neighbourhood characteristics and population compositions. As searching is a central component of housing market behaviour, knowing about the search process will aid our understanding of how the residential mosaic is formed. The outcome of myriad searches, and then the moves consequent upon those searches, is the basis for the changing composition of neighbourhoods and communities.