Comments on: Homeownership’s Downsides

By: Links: July 2009 « Consider the Evidence

Links: July 2009 « Consider the Evidence — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 15:02:41 +0000

[...] Homeownership’s downsides, by Richard [...]

By: Unanticipated Consequences - Random Dispatches

Unanticipated Consequences - Random Dispatches — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 11:42:06 +0000

[...] the killer quote from a study linked to via Creative Class: Being tied down to a house tends to make people less likely to leave an area in which employment [...]

By: Twenty First Century Home Tenure | Globizen Property

Twenty First Century Home Tenure | Globizen Property — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 19:42:39 +0000

[...] Wendy Waters, over at All About Cities, raises an interesting issue about owning vs renting — a topic that Richard Florida previously discussed in “Rent out the American Dream?” And more recently, touched upon, in “Homeownership’s Downsides.” [...]

By: Wendy

Wendy — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 17:36:40 +0000

Great question Mike L. I think you’re right, it’s not home ownership that’s an issue, it’s negative equity that’s the problem. Remove policies that encourage the latter and the situation looks different.

I wonder if in the future some comparisons between Canadian and American mobility rates between 2007 – 2010 might shed light since Canadian banks don’t permit zero-down mortgages and house prices generally haven’t fallen as much north of the border.

But Richard’s right in speculating that some more creative forms of home tenure might be needed. Maybe I’ll blog about that soon.

By: Mike L.

Mike L. — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 04:25:29 +0000

Has anyone compared the behavior of home-owners with different levels of equity in their homes? From no-mortgage to 100% (or more) mortgage?

My prediction is that the closer to no-mortgage, the more mobility the home-owner has. If so, this supports the argument that low-deposit mortgages are bad for the economy.