IS THERE A HOUSING BUBBLE IN BRAZIL? A THEORETICAL AND EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS

Abstract

Based on the post-Keynesian theory, the article aims at verifying if there is a housing bubble in Brazil. First, we analyze the behavior of some specific indicators that, according to this theory, could show the existence of a housing bubble in the real estate. Secondly, econometric techniques are used to estimate an economic model to show the relationship between the housing price and changes in the fundamental variables or the possibility of speculative behavior of economic agents in the real estate. The article presents two main conclusions: on the one hand, our results show that the production costs and some fundamental variables are not enough to explain, in the last years, the housing prices in the Brazilian real estate; and, on the other hand, however it is possible to argue that credit behavior, financial position of households and general economic conditions corroborate to the existence of a housing bubble in the real estate.