Housing price dynamics and convergence in high-tech metropolitan economies

This paper estimates the joint effects of spatial diffusion and high-tech industry transmission on housing prices. I find these effects are significant but generate different short-run dynamics and long-run convergence of housing prices. The spatial diffusion effect is instantaneous but short-lived, whereas the high-tech industry effect is persistent. The dynamics conclusion is supported by estimates of a dynamic panel model using data of 42 high-tech metropolitan areas. A further convergence test shows that it is the high-tech industrial transmission mechanism, not the spatial diffusion, to drive the housing price convergence.