Residential Choice Behavior Research Articles

Staying put out of choice or constraint? The residential choice behaviour of Dutch older adults

AbstractResidential mobility varies with age. In contrast to younger age groups, older adults show a tendency to ‘stay put’. There is little evidence whether this immobility of older adults is due to choice (i.e., the wish to age in place) or to constraint (i.e., the lack of alternatives). This study makes an empirical analysis of the underlying preferences for housing of Dutch older adults by reporting the stated preferences of Dutch older adults for bundles of housing characteristics. It offers insight in the relative importance of various aspects of housing and explores whether these preferences are stable for different age groups. The study finds a strong preference for the current dwelling, especially for the older age groups. Running separate models for different age groups results in an improvement of the log‐likelihood, indicating the presence of heterogeneity in housing preferences among Dutch older adults.

What does the disclosure of school quality information bring? The effect through the housing market

AbstractThis study investigates how disclosure of school quality information influences the behavior of students and parents. Using the event in which school‐level test scores were first disclosed in October 2014 in Matsue City, Japan, I estimate the change in the effect of test scores on housing rent and population in a school district between pre‐ and post‐disclosure. Following the disclosure of scores, the school catchment areas with higher scores witnessed a significant increase in the rents of apartments for families and the population of school‐age children. These results provide novel evidence that disclosure of school quality information significantly impacts people's school and residential choice behavior.

Elucidating the drivers of residential mobility and housing choice behaviour in a suburban township via push–pull–mooring framework

This study applies the “push-pull-mooring” model of migration to explain home purchase intention in a suburban township. “Push” effects include dissatisfaction and high housing costs in one’s current neighbourhood (“the origin”). “Pull” effects were consumers’ perceived value of the suburban township (“the destination”), which encompassed price, functional, emotional, social, symbolic, and Feng Shui aspects. Relocation costs and alternative township’s attractiveness were hypothesized as “mooring” effects that negatively impact purchase intention as well as moderate the push and pull effects. 179 valid responses from prospective home buyers were analysed using partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM). Pull effects were found to exert a positive influence while mooring and push effects exert a negative influence on purchase intention. Moderation effects of the mooring factors were found to be not significant in this context. This study offers several interesting implications for researchers and marketing practitioners in the real estate industry.

Combining tacit knowledge elicitation with the SilverKnETs tool and random forests – The example of residential housing choices in Leipzig

Residential choice behaviour is a complex process underpinned by both housing market restrictions and individual preferences, which are partly conscious and partly tacit knowledge. Due to several limitations, common survey methods cannot sufficiently tap into such tacit knowledge. Thus, this paper introduces an advanced knowledge elicitation process called SilverKnETs and combines it with data mining using random forests to elicit and operationalize this type of knowledge. For the application case of the city of Leipzig, Germany, our findings indicate that rent, location and type of housing form the three predictors strongly influencing the decision making in residential choices. Other explanatory variables appear to have a much lower influence. Random forests have proven to be a promising tool for the prediction of residential choices, although the design and scope of the study govern the explanatory power of these models.

A latent class model of residential choice behaviour and ethnic segregation preferences

The nature of ethnic residential clustering involves diverse population segments which through their location decisions influence the spatial patterns of ethnic settlements. While residential location is in part determined by outside constraints, choice plays a role too, making the study of preferences an important research topic. Along with differences in socio-economic characteristics, literature often emphasizes the role of unobserved (behavioural) elements in the formation of preferences for ethnic neighbourhood composition. This paper tests the potential of latent class choice models to examine both observed and unobserved heterogeneity in residential choices across ethnic groups. The empirical example is estimated on stated preferences data from Lugano, Switzerland. The results indicate different ethnic attributes as key choice drivers for households belonging to three latent classes, where the origin of households is the best predictor of class membership. Swiss citizens are mainly concerned about high shares of foreigners, advantaged foreigners favour their co-nationals, while disadvantaged foreigners hold both of such preferences.

Measuring unobservable factors in residential developments: a structural equation approach

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate how to measure the effect of unobservable factors on residential choice behaviour in an attempt to advance the understanding of how to perform advanced market analysis. This research is important to residential developers, as the diversity of preferences is increasingly driven by lifestyle-based households and affluent households. Design/methodology/approach Information about the pros and cons of renting an apartment in an ongoing residential development project in Stockholm came from interviews using the laddering technique. Qualitative data were subsequently analysed using exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis to confirm which factors had the highest effect on an overall assessment of living in the development and a value-for-money conclusion. Findings Among the potentially important factors identified, respondents who became residents perceived the development to be more noise-free than those who did not when stating the overall value of living in the development and making a value-for-money conclusion. The perception of noise differed between the two groups, meaning that those who did not become residents believed the development to be more exposed to noise. The standard of the apartment was the second most influential factor when stating the overall value of living in the development and making a value-for-money conclusion. The belief of being able to relax in the home environment had no significant effect on overall value for either group. Originality/value The results show that confirmatory factor analysis can be used in measuring the effect of unobservable factors in residential choice behaviour. The methodology presented may advise developers, architects or planners in evaluating those attributes that create value-for-money to improve, for example, overall design solutions in urban development projects.

Revisiting residential self-selection issues: A life-oriented approach

It has been widely argued that residential self-selection stems from two sources: attitudes and sociodemographic traits. This argument would be true if decisions were made with respect to only residential choice and travel behavior. Because they are just a part of people’s life choice, the influence of life choice on self-selection cannot be ignored. In this context, a life-oriented approach becomes relevant, where residential and travel decisions are interdependent not only with each other, but also with other life domains as a part of general life decisions. This paper conceptually argued and empirically confirmed the necessity of developing a life-oriented approach to reexamine residential self-selection issues. I proposed that life choices should be treated as an additional source of the self-selection, and dynamic interdependences between residential choice, travel behavior, and other life choices should be properly modeled. From a policy perspective, the life-oriented approach suggests that successful transport and land use policies should be designed together with policies in other significantly relevant sectors (e.g., health and environment) and such cross-sectoral policies could better contribute to the improvement of people’s quality of life.

Multi-agent Simulation about Urban Dynamics Based on a Hypothetical Relationship between Individuals' Travel Behavior and Residential Choice Behavior

Multi-agent Simulation about Urban Dynamics Based on a Hypothetical Relationship between Individuals' Travel Behavior and Residential Choice Behavior

Estimation and Analysis of Preference Heterogeneity in Residential Choice Behaviour

Effective and efficient planning and development of residential environments require clarifying the nature of residential preferences. In reality, residential preferences are heterogeneous, so the standard econometric models that assume only one type of preference are not optimal. In this study, conjoint choice experiment methods are employed with a mixed logit approach. The findings reveal significant heterogeneity with regard to some residential attributes. The determinants of preference heterogeneity were also investigated by conducting regression analyses on the attributes that were valued heterogeneously. Overall, the relationships observed between the explanatory variables and the heterogeneity in the valuations were understandable. However, coefficient of determination values for each model were low, indicating that the bulk of preference heterogeneity results from unobservable factors.

Reexamining the Influence of Work and Nonwork Accessibility on Residential Location Choices with a Microanalytic Framework

The concept of accessibility has long been theorized as a principal determinant of residential choice behavior. Research on this influence is extensive but the empirical results have been mixed, with some research suggesting that accessibility is becoming a relatively insignificant influence on housing choices. Further, the measurement of accessibility must contend with complications arising from the increasing prevalence of trip chains, nonwork activities, and multiworker households, and also reconcile person-specific travel needs with household residential decisions. With this paper we contribute to the literature by addressing the gap framed by these issues and present a novel residential choice model with three main elements of innovation. First, we operationalize a time–space prism (TSP) accessibility measure, which we believe to be the first application of its kind in a residential choice model. Second, we represent the choice sets in a building-level framework—the lowest level of spatial disaggregation available for modeling residential choices. Third, we explicitly examine the influence of nonwork accessibility at both the local and the person level. This residential choice model is applied in the central Puget Sound region using a 2006 household activity survey. The model estimation results confirm that accessibility remains an important influence, with individual-specific work accessibility as the most critical consideration. By using the TSP approach we establish that nonwork accessibility in a trip-chaining context does contribute to the residential choice decision, even after accounting for work accessibility. Empirical tests also reveal a useful aggregation method to incorporate individual-specific accessibility measures into a household-level choice model.

An Agent-Based Model of Residential Choice Dynamics in Nonstationary Housing Markets

This paper presents an agent-based model developed to simulate residential choice behaviour in a nonstationary housing market. The model is built around the assumption that agents have incomplete and imperfect knowledge, and thus have to base their decisions on beliefs. The aim is to illustrate how the agents deal with the uncertainty inherent in these beliefs, both at the level of a single agent, deciding among a set of successive actions, and at the level of a group of agents, negotiating over the price of a house.

Intrahousehold Interaction in Transit-Oriented Residential Choice Behavior Represented in Stated Preference Approach

A study applied a web-based stated preference (SP) survey to investigate household preferences for transit-oriented residential choices, incorporating intrahousehold interaction. The SP survey included five alternatives: one current residential location and four combinations of two residential areas and two commuting modes (a car and a transit system). The assumed residential areas were all located near stations of a transit system: one was close to and another was far from the city center. Commuting modes were only for household heads. Households with only couples were recruited, and the survey was conducted with the help of an Internet survey company. In the SP survey, the couple was first asked to answer the SP questions separately, and then the two members jointly answered the questions. It was found that members in 40% of the households changed their stated choices after joint decisions. This switch suggests the necessity to incorporate intrahousehold interaction into any household residential choice model. To this end, a group discrete choice model with multilinear utility was established; members’ relative influences and intrahousehold interaction were simultaneously represented in the model. Model estimation results first confirmed the effectiveness of the established model. It was then revealed that the existence of intra-household interaction reduced total household utility and that husbands wielded relatively greater influence than wives. It was also shown that with increases in age, members’ relative influence grew, and that dominant decision makers concerning household asset management had greater influence power on household residential choice behavior.

The family context and residential choice: A challenge for new research

AbstractEven in today's Western societies, a substantial influence can be expected on residential choice (behaviour with respect to residential mobility, migration, location choice and housing quality) from the wider family context (parents, children and siblings living outside the household). In this paper, an agenda is presented for research investigating the influence of the wider family context on the residential choices of households and the feedback of these choices to segregation with regard to socioeconomic status and ethnicity. The results of the research will contribute to the academic literature on residential choice, family migration, family solidarity, and to societal and policy debates on social inequality and residential segregation. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

A behavioral analysis on relationship between individuals' travel behavior and residential choice behavior

In this study, it was hypothesized that travel behavior and residential choice behavior are mutually interrelated. It was also hypothesized that travel habits would last even after residential removal. We tested the structural causal relations that were lead by these two hypotheses using data from a survey that targeted new corners to a city. The data then supported the hypothesized structural causal relations. In this paper, we discuss that urban policies that integrate transportation measures, land use measures and behavior modification measures are indispensable to develop an ideal city and its transportation.

Bilevel Negotiation Protocol for Multiagent Simulation of Housing Transactions and Market Clearing Processes

Models of residential choice behavior play a central role in integrated land use-transportation models. An agent-based model was developed of the negotiation process between selling and buying agents to represent price formation and clearance processes in housing markets. The model takes into account the heterogeneity of the goods traded, behavior protocols, imperfect knowledge, and strategic behavior of interacting households and real estate agents in price negotiations. A framework was developed, and the results of numerical experiments conducted to test the model are discussed.

Survey and Model Development of Household Residential Choice Behavior with Group Decision-Making Mechanisms

Survey and Model Development of Household Residential Choice Behavior with Group Decision-Making Mechanisms

Survey and Model Development of Household Residential Choice Behavior with Group Decision-Making Mechanisms

Survey and Model Development of Household Residential Choice Behavior with Group Decision-Making Mechanisms

Bilevel Negotiation Protocol for Multiagent Simulation of Housing Transactions and Market Clearing Processes

Models of residential choice behavior play a central role in integrated land use–transportation models. An agent-based model was developed of the negotiation process between selling and buying agents to represent price formation and clearance processes in housing markets. The model takes into account the heterogeneity of the goods traded, behavior protocols, imperfect knowledge, and strategic behavior of interacting households and real estate agents in price negotiations. A framework was developed, and the results of numerical experiments conducted to test the model are discussed.

Information Provision and Risk Perception on Fatal Disaster Risk in a Monocentric City

The paper analyzes effects of information provision in terms of vulnerability against disaster. It is assumed that perceived risks are not always rigorous even after precise information in terms of vulnerability against. disaster is provided to households. Models of residential choice behavior under provision of the information, that differs with respect to bias level in risk perception, are formulated. By comparing equilibrium land use patterns and welfare levels of households, we examine the influence of biases in risk perception on effect of information provision.

Group-Based versus Individual-Based Conjoint Preference Models of Residential Preferences: A Comparative Test

The conjoint preference approach, measuring individual preferences, has a long history in the study of residential decisionmaking processes. Residential choice behaviour, however, is often the result of a group decisionmaking process. In this paper we investigate whether conjoint preference models derived from group responses are different from and predict better than conventional conjoint models derived from the responses of individuals who do not interact during the data-collection process. In particular, we propose a new approach to modelling group preferences for residential choice alternatives that extends previous work of Timmermans et al. The new approach is illustrated in an application among 193 families with children. The results confirm that preference structures of individual family members differ from group preference structures and that the proposed group-based model predicts family preferences for new residential environments better than do conventional models.