The Baby Boom, the Baby Bust, and the Housing Market

Mankiw, N. Gregory; Weil, David N.

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The Baby Boom, the Baby Bust, and the Housing Market

NBER Working Paper No. w2794

44 Pages Posted: 14 Jan 2001 Last revised: 20 Feb 2022

See all articles by N. Gregory Mankiw

N. Gregory Mankiw

Harvard University - Department of Economics; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

David N. Weil

Brown University - Department of Economics; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

Date Written: December 1988

Abstract

This paper examines the impact of major demographic changes on the housing market in the United States. The entry of the Baby Boom generation into its house-buying years is found to be the major cause of the increase in real housing prices in the l97Os. Since the Baby Bust generation is now entering its house-buying years, housing demand will grow more slowly in the 1990s than in any time in the past forty years. If the historical relation between housing demand and housing prices continues into the future, real housing prices will fall substantially over the next two decades.

Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation

Mankiw, N. Gregory and Weil, David Nathan, The Baby Boom, the Baby Bust, and the Housing Market (December 1988). NBER Working Paper No. w2794, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=245837