A comparison of household mobility for owned manufactured, traditional owned, and rental units using the American Housing Survey

Abstract

This study employs data from the national sample of the American Housing Survey to analyze the mobility decisions of families in owned manufactured housing in comparison to families in traditional owned homes and rental units. Specifically a continuous time probability model (CTM) is used to estimate the likelihood of these families moving over the period of 1993–2001. In general, the empirical work suggests that families occupying both owned manufactured housing and traditional owned housing are associated with lower probabilities of moving than comparable households in rental units. Of particular interest is the fact that, ceteris paribus, families in both traditional owned homes and owned manufactured housing exhibit negative duration dependence, or a decreasing probability of moving over time, while for those in rental units duration dependence is positive. These differences are important because of their potential implications for long-term neighborhood stability and, as such, the viability of manufactured housing as an affordable housing alternative for lower income families.