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Changes in access to homeownership during the 1970s

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Abstract

During the mid and late 1970s housing price inflation made the purchase of a home problematic for large numbers of Americans. This paper uses Annual Housing Survey (AHS) data from five successive years, 1974 to 1978, to analyze the extent of the affordability crisis. It outlines the changes in the size and characteristics of the stream of movers from rented to owner occupied housing which would accompany an affordability crisis and examines AHS data for evidence of these changes. The results suggest that the exclusionary effects of housing price inflation were confined to the southern and western regions of the United States. The causes for these regional differentials and their implications for housing policy are briefly explored.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departments of Human Ecology and Sociology, Rutgers University, USA

    Thomas K. Rudel

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  1. Thomas K. Rudel
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Additional information

The research reported here was supported by grant No. HD14518-01 from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. Don Dillman made valuable comments on an earlier draft of this paper.

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Rudel, T.K. Changes in access to homeownership during the 1970s. Ann Reg Sci 19, 37–49 (1985). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02078773

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02078773

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