Space-varying regression coefficients: A semi-parametric approach applied to real estate markets

This paper presents a method for estimating home Values by non-parametrically incorporating the physical location of the properties. Specifically, I allow the parameters of the observed covariates to vary in space. This approach mitigates one of the biggest deficiencies inherent in hedonic pricing models-omitted variables. I demonstrate the advantages of the proposed method using real estate transaction data from Los Angeles County. The estimation finds a substantial spatial Variation of the marginal values of the hedonic characteristics and provides an insight into the segmentation of the market. The proposed method is an extension of semi-parametric multi-dimensional k-nearest-neighbor smoothing. It alleviates a fundamental problem known as the curse of dimensionality by incorporating parametric components into a non-parametric estimation.