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Homeownership and wealth accumulation for low-income households

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  • Wainer, Allison
  • Zabel, Jeffrey

Abstract

One of the justifications for federal involvement in the homeownership market is that it provides one of the few ways that low-income households can accumulate wealth. To date, the evidence on this claim is mixed due to the lack of a framework that allows for an evaluation of the causal impact of homeownership on wealth accumulation. We make up for this deficit by using the 1984–2013 waves of the Panel Study of Income Dynamics that allows us to use a household-level fixed effects estimator to focus on how wealth changes for households that shift their tenure status from renting to owning.

Suggested Citation

  • Wainer, Allison & Zabel, Jeffrey, 2020. "Homeownership and wealth accumulation for low-income households," Journal of Housing Economics, Elsevier, vol. 47(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jhouse:v:47:y:2020:i:c:s105113771730205x
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jhe.2019.03.002
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    Cited by:

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    3. Doron Shiffer-Sebba & Julia Behrman, 2021. "Gender and Wealth in Demographic Research: A Research Brief on a New Method and Application," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 40(4), pages 643-659, August.
    4. Zuchowski, David, 2023. "Pro-immigrant legislation and financial inclusion: The effects of sanctuary policies on the mortgage market," Ruhr Economic Papers 1053, RWI - Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-University Bochum, TU Dortmund University, University of Duisburg-Essen.
    5. Lagomarsino, Bruno Cardinale & Rossi, Martin A., 2024. "JUE insight: The unintended effect of Argentina's subsidized homeownership lottery program on intimate partner violence," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 142(C).
    6. Ashleigh Eldemire & Kimberly F Luchtenberg & Matthew M Wynter, 2022. "Does Homeownership Reduce Wealth Disparities for Low-Income and Minority Households?," The Review of Corporate Finance Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 11(3), pages 465-510.
    7. DiSalvo, Richard W. & Yu, Jia H., 2023. "Housing Affordability and School Quality in the United States," Journal of Housing Economics, Elsevier, vol. 60(C).
    8. Christian A. L. Hilber & Tracy M. Turner, 2024. "Land use regulation, homeownership and wealth inequality," CEP Discussion Papers dp2003, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    9. James Conklin & Kristopher Gerardi & Lauren Lambie-Hanson, 2022. "Can Everyone Tap Into the Housing Piggy Bank? Racial Disparities in Access to Home Equity," FRB Atlanta Working Paper 2022-17, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta.
    10. Manyi Luo & Shihu Zhong & Jie Chen, 2024. "The sweet burden: Does homeownership improve the economic status of households?," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(1), pages 1-10, December.
    11. Malin, Stephanie A. & Mayer, Adam & Hazboun, Shawn, 2023. "Whose future, whose security?: Unconventional oil and gas extraction and the economic vulnerability and forced participation of small-scale property owners," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 86(PA).
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    13. Daniel R. Carroll & Ross Cohen-Kristiansen, 2021. "Evaluating Homeownership as the Solution to Wealth Inequality," Economic Commentary, Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, vol. 2021(22), pages 1-7, December.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Homeownership status; Wealth accumulation; Low-income households;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • R21 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Household Analysis - - - Housing Demand
    • R28 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Household Analysis - - - Government Policy

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