The Removal of Mortgage Market Constraints and the Implications for Econometric Modelling of UK House Prices.

During the 1980s, mortgage markets have not been subject to rationing in the United Kingdom, in contrast to most of the postwar period. This change has important implications for the demand for housing and the level of house prices. In this paper, the author constructs a model of house prices that takes account of the regime switch and shows the quantitative importance of the switch. He demonstrates that any government tax or monetary policy actions are now much more likely to affect the housing market than before. Copyright 1990 by Blackwell Publishing Ltd