Generalized Log-Linear Models of Housing Choice

Abstract

By incorporating the structure of polytomous variables with ordered categories in the design matrix, nonstandard logit models are used to analyze housing choice. The detailed effects of income, age, and type of housing market on choice are examined. The additional information that is incorporated in the modeling leads to a more parsimonious representation of the data. The results confirm the central and substantial role of income; income effects are linear for owners but there are nonlinear effects for public and private renters. There are important age and region interaction effects on choice for households originally in the rental sector, and for former owners the value of the previous dwelling influences choice.