On the Link between Value of the Dollar and Housing Production in the U.S.: Evidence from State Level Data

Abstract

Currency depreciation is said to affect domestic output in either direction, depending on the relative strength of its impact on next exports and the cost of imported inputs. Since increased net exports and eventual economic growth affect the demand for housing and increased cost of imported materials that are used in housing construction affects the supply of housing, we assume that currency depreciation could have an impact on housing output. We test our assumption by using time-series data from each of the states in the U.S. and show that when a linear model is estimated, dollar depreciation has short-run effects in 41 states and long-run effects in only three states. However, when dollar depreciation is separated from appreciation and a nonlinear model is estimated, we find short-run asymmetric effects in all of the states and long-run asymmetric effects in 32 states. Additional analysis reveals that while dollar depreciation increases housing output in 10 states, dollar appreciation hurts the output in 11 states, thus supporting the expansionary depreciation of the dollar in the U.S. housing market.

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