Do long-distance moves discourage homeownership? Evidence from England

We hypothesize that as the distance of a residential move increases, the amount and quality of information collected on the destination housing market fall. This in turn increases the chances of making an ill-informed housing purchase decision, thus reducing the likelihood of such a purchase. Using data from the Survey of English Housing from 1993 to 2008, we document that, consistent with our prior, households moving over long distances – defined as 50 miles or more – have, on average, a 5.5 percentage point lower probability of owning their next home compared to shorter-distance movers. We also provide evidence consistent with the views that long-distance movers (i) are aware that they possess less and/or lower quality information and (ii) are more likely, especially if they are renters, to move again quickly after presumably having accrued better information on the property and local area.