Book Description
Homeownership is one of the most common financial aspirations of households in the United States. It has historically been an integral part of the so-called "American dream" (Bostic, Calem & Wachter, 2004). Numerous studies outline the associated positive externalities to homeownership (Glaeser & Sacerdote 2000; Glaeser & Shapiro 2003); and as a result of these multifaceted benefits, policy makers and academicians have paid careful attention to its determinants. The present study employs the 2010 Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF) to explore the relationship of housing market bar-riers and the likelihood of homeownership utilizing the Modligiani's life cycle hypothesis under the assumption of a non-frictionless market. Binomial logistic regression is used to survey the impact of the following: information asymmetry, borrowing constraints, structural barriers, housing tax preferential treatments and time preference on the prob-ability of being a homeowner. Important implications derived from this study, as it re-lates to the notion of household life cycles, might benefit multiple interested parties such as financial planners and housing professionals who are rendering recommendations to their clients, educators and researchers assisting the public in making informed choices, and governmental policymakers attempting to secure the financial well-being and inter-ests of households.
