Housing Search and Mobility. Housing Assistance Supply Experiment

摘要

Prepared for the conference on the housing choices of low - income families sponsored by the HUD Office of Policy Development and Research, this report draws on research conducted by the Rand Corporation as part of the Housing Assistance Supply Experiment (HASE). It shows how lower - income and higher - income families search for housing, how discrimination affects housing search, and how different search procedures affect a household's ability to find bargains as the household moves. The analysis rests on a paradigm of search behavior suggesting how households conduct active housing searches and how those procedures affect their moves. Although households consider moving when they find their current housing to be inadequate, they will decide to move only if the perceived benefits of moving outweigh the costs. Events experienced during the search, particularly discrimination, may cause households to modify their initial search strategy or even abandon plans to move. Survey data on residentially mobile renters indicate that search effort does not vary with income and that most renters, regardless of income, appear to favor a low - cost search strategy. Nonetheless, low - income families may encounter discrimination; this raises the psychological costs of the housing search and creates dilemmas for the families. Results further show that advice from friends is more effective in finding housing than reliance on intense searching. The success of programs for low - income families may depend upon the types of relocation assistance offered to participants. Tabular data and a bibliography are provided.