The Impact of Housing Prices on Health in the United States Before, During, and After the Great Recession

Abstract

We estimate the effects of U.S. Metropolitan Statistical Area housing prices on a variety of health outcomes and health‐related behaviors separately for homeowners and tenants. The constructed data set consists of information on individuals from the 2002–2012 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System combined with homeownership data from the March Current Population Survey and housing prices from Freddie Mac. We estimate positive effects on homeowners' mental health when housing prices increase. We also find negative effects on tenants' health and health‐related behaviors with increases in housing prices. These estimated contemporaneous effects are concentrated among low‐income homeowners and tenants, and the effects for tenants are not persistent in the long run. However, the cumulative effects of an increase in housing prices on obesity become more pronounced for homeowners in the long run, resulting in worse self‐reported health.

The impact of housing prices on residents’ health: a systematic review

“…Seven studies focused on mental health as the outcome variable—utilizing various measures, including self-rated mental health, standardized scales for depression or anxiety, and receipt of pharmaceutical prescriptions [ 22 , 32 , 33 , 35 , 40 , 41 ]. Nine studies analyzed the impact of housing prices on physical health—utilizing various measures of physical health, including objective assessments of physical health (e.g., body mass), self-rated physical health assessments, reports of specific health conditions (e.g., COVID-19), reported health behaviours (e.g., alcohol use, smoking), and mortality ( [ 24 , 28 , 29 , 37 , 44 , 30 , 36 , 38 , 39 ]). Seven studies included both physical and mental health measures as their outcome variable [ 19 , 20 , 23 , 26 , 27 , 34 , 45 ].…”

“…Housing prices were measured using many different types of data, including house price index, self-reported housing price (extracted from surveys), and average market price. Many studies used house price index as a measure of housing prices [ 19 , 21 , 22 , 30 , 38 , 39 , 41 ]. Zhang & Zhang [ 33 ] included self-reported housing price.…”

“…Sung & Qiu. (2020) [ 30 , 38 , 39 ] Atalay et al (2017); Wang & Liang (2021); Sung & Qiu. (2020); De & Segura-Escano (2021) [ 27 , 30 , 38 ] Chen et al (2021); Arcaya et al (2020); Yuan et al (2020); Wei et al (2021); Xu & Wang (2021) [ 20 , 21 , 26 , 32 , 36 ] Positive Effect Yue & Ponce (2021); Atalay et al (2017); Wang & Liang (2021) [ 19 , 27 , 31 ] Yue & Ponce (2021).…”

“…(2020) [ 30 , 38 , 39 ] Atalay et al (2017); Wang & Liang (2021); Sung & Qiu. (2020); De & Segura-Escano (2021) [ 27 , 30 , 38 ] Chen et al (2021); Arcaya et al (2020); Yuan et al (2020); Wei et al (2021); Xu & Wang (2021) [ 20 , 21 , 26 , 32 , 36 ] Positive Effect Yue & Ponce (2021); Atalay et al (2017); Wang & Liang (2021) [ 19 , 27 , 31 ] Yue & Ponce (2021). Wang & Liang (2021) [ 19 , 31 ] Fichera & Gathergood (2016); Feng & Nie (2022); Hamoudi, & Dowd (2013); Ratcliffe (2015) [ 23 , 34 , 37 , 40 ] Yue & Ponce (2021); Ratcliffe (2015).…”

Gender differences in the mechanism of involuntary retirement affecting loneliness through vulnerability and coping resources

“…Housing vulnerability was assessed with four items. Participants who identified as renters are considered materially vulnerable; the literature shows that renters have poorer health than home-owners due to inferior housing conditions and neighbourhood environment (Baker et al ., 2020; Sung and Qiu, 2020). Participants who reported fair or poor-quality housing conditions were identified as housing vulnerable.…”