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Low Homeownership in Germany - A Quantitative Exploration

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  • Leo Kaas
  • Georgi Kocharkov
  • Edgar Preugschat
  • Nawid Siassi

Abstract

The homeownership rate in Germany is one of the lowest among advanced economies. To better understand this fact, we analyze the role of three specific policies which discourage homeownership in Germany: an extensive social housing sector with broad eligibility criteria, high transfer taxes when buying real estate, and no tax deductions for mortgage interest payments by owner-occupiers. We build a lifecycle model with uninsurable income risk and endogenous homeownership in order to quantify the policy effects on homeownership and welfare. We find that all three policies have sizable effects on the homeownership rate. At the same time, household welfare would be reduced by moving to a policy regime with low transfer taxes and mortgage interest tax deductions, but it would improve in the absence of social housing, in particular when coupled with housing subsidies for low-income households.

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  • Leo Kaas & Georgi Kocharkov & Edgar Preugschat & Nawid Siassi, 2017. "Low Homeownership in Germany - A Quantitative Exploration," CESifo Working Paper Series 6775, CESifo.
    • Handle: RePEc:ces:ceswps:_6775
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    3. Clemens Fuest & Mathias Dolls & Carla Krolage & Florian Neumeier, 2019. "Who Bears the Burden of Real Estate Transfer Taxes? Evidence from the German Housing Market," ifo Working Paper Series 308, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich.
    4. Sandro Heiniger & Winfried Koeniger & Michael Lechner, 2022. "The Heterogeneous Response of Real Estate Asset Prices to a Global Shock," CESifo Working Paper Series 10083, CESifo.
    5. Hintermaier, Thomas & Koeniger, Winfried, 2018. "Differences in Euro-Area Household Finances and their Relevance for Monetary-Policy Transmission," Economics Working Paper Series 1806, University of St. Gallen, School of Economics and Political Science, revised Nov 2019.
    6. Alexander Daminger & Kristof Dascher, 2023. "Homeowner Subsidy Repeal and Housing Recentralization," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 99(2), pages 283-301.
    7. Koeniger, Winfried & Lennartz, Benedikt & Ramelet, Marc-Antoine, 2022. "On the transmission of monetary policy to the housing market," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 145(C).
    8. Bontemps, Christian & Cherbonnier, Frédéric & Magnac, Thierry, 2023. "Reducing transaction taxes on housing in highly regulated economies”," TSE Working Papers 23-1486, Toulouse School of Economics (TSE).
    9. Davies, Clementine, 2021. "Financialisation and rental housing: A case study of Berlin," IPE Working Papers 153/2021, Berlin School of Economics and Law, Institute for International Political Economy (IPE).
    10. Jascha Dräger & Nora Müller & Klaus Pforr, 2024. "The Keys to the House - How Wealth Transfers Stratify Homeownership Opportunities," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 1210, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
    11. Petkova, Kunka & Weichenrieder, Alfons, 2017. "Price and Quantity Effects of the German Real Estate Transfer Tax," VfS Annual Conference 2017 (Vienna): Alternative Structures for Money and Banking 168305, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    12. Volker Grossmann & Benjamin Larin & Hans Torben Löfflad & Thomas Steger, 2019. "Distributional effects of surging housing costs under Schwabe's Law," CESifo Working Paper Series 7684, CESifo.
    13. Petkova, Kunka & Weichenrieder, Alfons J., 2019. "Grunderwerbsteuer: Eine Steuer für das 21. Jahrhundert?," SAFE White Paper Series 58, Leibniz Institute for Financial Research SAFE.
    14. Ann-Marie Sommerfeld, 2023. "The Effect of Schooling on Parental Integration: Evidence from Germany," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 1198, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
    15. Stefanie Braun, 2021. "Effects of Preferential Tax Treatment on German Homeownership," Working Papers 209, Bavarian Graduate Program in Economics (BGPE).
    16. Stefano Colonnello & Roberto Marfè & Qizhou Xiong, 2021. "Housing Yields," Working Papers 2021:21, Department of Economics, University of Venice "Ca' Foscari", revised 2021.
    17. Kindermann, Fabian & Le Blanc, Julia & Piazzesi, Monika & Schneider, Martin, 2021. "Learning about Housing Cost: Survey Evidence from the German House Price Boom," CEPR Discussion Papers 16223, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    18. Brzezinski, Michal & Sałach, Katarzyna, 2021. "Factors that account for the wealth inequality differences between post-socialist countries," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 105(C).
    19. Christofzik, Désirée I. & Feld, Lars P. & Yeter, Mustafa, 2020. "Heterogeneous price and quantity effects of the real estate transfer tax in Germany," Freiburg Discussion Papers on Constitutional Economics 20/10, Walter Eucken Institut e.V..
    20. Fehr, Hans & Hofmann, Maurice, 2020. "Tenure choice, portfolio structure and long-term care – Optimal risk management in retirement," The Journal of the Economics of Ageing, Elsevier, vol. 17(C).
    21. Koeniger, Winfried & Lennartz, Benedikt & Ramelet, Marc-Antoine, 2022. "On the transmission of monetary policy to the housing market," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 145(C).
    22. Fabienne Helfer & Volker Grossmann & Aderonke Osikominu, 2023. "How does immigration affect housing costs in Switzerland?," Swiss Journal of Economics and Statistics, Springer;Swiss Society of Economics and Statistics, vol. 159(1), pages 1-31, December.
    23. Alexander Daminger, 2021. "Subsidies to Homeownership and Central City Rent," Working Papers 210, Bavarian Graduate Program in Economics (BGPE).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    homeownership; housing markets;

    JEL classification:

    • D15 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Intertemporal Household Choice; Life Cycle Models and Saving
    • E21 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Consumption; Saving; Wealth
    • R21 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Household Analysis - - - Housing Demand
    • R38 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Real Estate Markets, Spatial Production Analysis, and Firm Location - - - Government Policy

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