The Case Against Homeownership

Via Felix Salmon, Grace Wong does an empirical survey on the impact of home ownership on 809 women in Columbus, Ohio, in 2005:

An interesting portrait of homeowners emerges from my analysis. I find little evidence that homeowners are happier by any of the following definitions: life satisfaction, overall mood, overall feeling, general moment-to-moment emotions (i.e., affect) and affect at home. Several factors might be at work: homeowners derive more pain (but no more joy) from both their home and their neighborhood. They are also more likely to be 12 pounds heavier, report lower health status and poorer sleep quality. They tend to spend less time on active leisure or with friends. The average homeowner reports less joy from love and relationships. She is also less likely to consider herself to enjoy being with people… The results are robust after controlling for reported financial stress.

Count this as another reason that public policy aimed at subsidizing home ownership is misguided. I bet Ed Glaeser’s new book on rethinking federal housing policy is interesting, and am looking forward to reading it.