Do long-distance moves discourage homeownership? Evidence from England

Sejeong Ha, Christian Hilber and Olivier Schöni

Journal of Housing Economics, 2021, vol. 53, issue C

Abstract: We hypothesize that as the distance of a residential move increases, the amount and quality of information collected on the destination housing market fall. This in turn increases the chances of making an ill-informed housing purchase decision, thus reducing the likelihood of such a purchase. Using data from the Survey of English Housing from 1993 to 2008, we document that, consistent with our prior, households moving over long distances – defined as 50 miles or more – have, on average, a 5.5 percentage point lower probability of owning their next home compared to shorter-distance movers. We also provide evidence consistent with the views that long-distance movers (i) are aware that they possess less and/or lower quality information and (ii) are more likely, especially if they are renters, to move again quickly after presumably having accrued better information on the property and local area.

Keywords: Residential mobility; Distance of residential relocation; Information cost; Ownership risk; Homeownership; Tenure choice (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J61 R21 R23 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Related works:
Working Paper: Do long-distance moves discourage homeownership? Evidence from England (2021)
Working Paper: Do Long Distance Moves Discourage Homeownership? Evidence from England (2013)
Working Paper: Do long distance moves discourage homeownership? evidence from England (2013)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:jhouse:v:53:y:2021:i:c:s1051137721000188

DOI: 10.1016/j.jhe.2021.101766

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