The Connection Between Monetary Policy and Housing Prices: Public Perception and Expert Communication

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Main Authors: Poyntner, Philipp, Waltl, Sofie R.
Format: Preprint
Published: 2026
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author Poyntner, Philipp
Waltl, Sofie R.
author_facet Poyntner, Philipp
Waltl, Sofie R.
contents We study how the general public perceives the link between monetary policy and housing markets. Using a large-scale, cross-country survey experiment in Austria, Germany, Italy, Sweden, and the United Kingdom, we examine households' understanding of monetary policy, their beliefs about its impact on house prices, and how these beliefs respond to expert information. We find that while most respondents grasp the basic mechanisms of conventional monetary policy and recognize the connection between interest rates and house prices, literacy regarding unconventional monetary policy is very low. Beliefs about the monetary policy-housing nexus are malleable and respond to information, particularly when it is provided by academic economists rather than central bankers. Monetary policy literacy is strongly related to education, gender, age, and experience in housing and mortgage markets. Our results highlight the central role of housing in how households interpret monetary policy and point to the importance of credible and inclusive communication strategies for effective policy transmission.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2601_08957
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle The Connection Between Monetary Policy and Housing Prices: Public Perception and Expert Communication
Poyntner, Philipp
Waltl, Sofie R.
General Economics
Economics
We study how the general public perceives the link between monetary policy and housing markets. Using a large-scale, cross-country survey experiment in Austria, Germany, Italy, Sweden, and the United Kingdom, we examine households' understanding of monetary policy, their beliefs about its impact on house prices, and how these beliefs respond to expert information. We find that while most respondents grasp the basic mechanisms of conventional monetary policy and recognize the connection between interest rates and house prices, literacy regarding unconventional monetary policy is very low. Beliefs about the monetary policy-housing nexus are malleable and respond to information, particularly when it is provided by academic economists rather than central bankers. Monetary policy literacy is strongly related to education, gender, age, and experience in housing and mortgage markets. Our results highlight the central role of housing in how households interpret monetary policy and point to the importance of credible and inclusive communication strategies for effective policy transmission.
title The Connection Between Monetary Policy and Housing Prices: Public Perception and Expert Communication
topic General Economics
Economics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2601.08957