What is the worth of values in guiding residential preferences and choices?

Abstract

The demographic, socio-economic and socio-cultural shifts that have taken place in Western economies in recent decades have generated a broader variety in housing behavior. For this reason, some researchers argue that socio-demographic characteristics alone no longer suffice to predict the housing demand. They should be supplemented with ‘lifestyle’ variables. However, the worth of lifestyle for the prediction of the housing demand is a highly debated topic. The purpose of the current study, therefore, is to explore the worth of lifestyle (operationalized as values) in the prediction of residential preferences and choices. Data were collected through telephone interviews in January and February 2010. Respondents were asked to indicate the importance of 29 values as a guiding principle in housing. Furthermore, respondents who had indicated that they were willing to move (n = 930) were asked about their preferences for a number of dwelling characteristics, such as tenure and dwelling type. Respondents who had indicated that they were not willing to move (n = 667) provided their residential choices. Hierarchical logistic regression analyses were used to explore the relationship between values and residential preferences and choices, after correction for socio-demographic characteristics. The results showed that values might have some additional worth for predicting residential preferences and choices, but the relationship seems to be rather limited.