Credit impairment and housing tenure status

We revisit the relationship between financing constraints and homeownership rates using the 2004 wave of the 1979 National Longitudinal Survey of Youth. The survey respondents are a nationally representative sample of Americans 39-47 years of age as of this wave. As most of the sample had been in their current residence prior to 2004, this study reflects housing tenure status decisions made prior to the recent credit expansion and subsequent crisis. Past research has emphasized wealth constraints, and income constraints as limiting homeownership. The estimation results here point to primary roles for credit impairment and lack of credit history. We also find that excluding controls for the endogeneity of wealth and income may mask the impact of credit factors.