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A study was conducted to explain the low homeownership rate for Hispanic-Americans and Asian-Americans. This analysis focused on the possible effect of immigrant status and other factors on the likelihood of becoming homeowners. The study follows a series of probit models of homeownership using data culled from the Mar 1996 Current Population Survey. Findings revealed that immigration status indeed has an explanatory role in the lower homeownership rates among these ethnic groups. The length of stay in the US was found to have a positive relationship with homeownership. However, immigration status is not the only factor affecting homeownership. Location in areas with expensive homeownership rates is a contributing factor, particularly among Asian-Americans. The lower educational achievement of Hispanic-Americans is also responsible for homeownership. Finally, young household heads were also found to have an impact.

Indian society presents heterogeneity across two identities – that is, religion and caste – that lead to heterogenous economic outcomes, but affirmative action is mostly applicable to caste. Our empirical models affirm that economically less secure households have a higher homeownership propensity in India. Minority religions and backward castes also have a significantly higher propensity to own homes. This is in sharp contrast to findings in the US where minority households are associated with lower homeownership rates. Further, religious and caste-based identities in India lead to different household behaviours in differing demographic mixes. Religious identity in India is more salient than caste identity in explaining differing homeownership patterns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We revise the standard monocentric city model to incorporate differential assumptions about the elasticity of housing supply in response to changes in transportation costs. We test the implications of the model with data from the Las Vegas metropolitan area and find that housing markets respond roughly the same in the face of increases and decreases in gas prices. Supply elasticity is evidently relatively elastic in response to both expansions and contractions, despite expectations that supply is much more inelastic when markets contract when gas prices increase. Simulating the effect of a 10% increase in gas prices from a carbon tax, we find that homes near the center of town rise on average $532 while homes beyond 5 miles fall on average $1,064. These findings are consistent with negative rent gradient results reported in Coulson and Engle (1987) and Larson and Zhao (2017). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We estimate the effect regional economic diversification has on the resiliency of the U.S. housing market, treating the spatial and temporal variation in natural disasters as exogenous shocks to regional economies. Our study demonstrates that diversity dampens both the magnitude and the duration of the effects of a disaster on local real estate values. Implications of our findings for the potential benefits of diversification in regional economies are discussed., Competing Interests: None., (© 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)