Multiple-Home Ownership and the Income Elasticity of Housing Demand

W06-5: This paper examines the determinants of the ownership of multiple homes and the influence of multiple-homeownership on the income elasticity of housing demand. It explores the impact of owning multiple homes on the income elasticity of demand for just primary residences, as well as total housing consumption. To the extent feasible in the datasets used for this analysis, homes owned for purely investment purposes are excluded from the analysis because such investments are little different from investments in other non-housing assets. Homes that are not used by their owners at least in part for seasonal or occasional use do not produce a flow of housing services that they consume. If the intention is not to use them, there is little reason to expect ownership of such homes to affect the income elasticity of demand for primary residences…