Wohnkosten und Besitzformwahl - Empirische Ergebnisse der Einkommens- und Verbrauchsstichprobe

The paper investigates which impact housing costs have upon the tenure choice of households. In using the German "Einkommens- und Verbrauchsstichprobe 1993" a rich amount of both, individual household and dwelling data is available. By means of regression analysis hedonic rental costs and hedonic market values are estimated. The use of hedonic values guarantees the comparability of renters and owner occupiers. The cost difference between rent and user costs (determined as cost of capital, tax advantage and maintenance expenditure) could be calculated household individually. It is the variable with the strongest explanatory power in different logit models of tenure choice. Income and socio-demo-graphic variables seem to serve as proxies for certain cost components, if the cost variable is specified less adequately.