New research on migration, mobility and housing tenure choice using the concept of the life-course is providing an enriched analysis of the context within which housing choices are made and of the demographic and economic variables which are critical determinants of the decisions to move and to change tenures. The availability of panel series data for the US and Germany allows cross-national comparisons of the migration and tenure choice processes. There are substantial differences in the rates of mobility and the rates of moves of households from the rental sector to ownership, especially for couples, but the results confirm the overall similarities in the mobility and tenure choice processes despite the differing government commitments to housing policy. The models show that it is primarily couples and families who make the transition to ownership and that income and number of earners are important in both contexts and German households have even higher incomes before they make the transition to ownership. At the same time, the tax benefits in Germany have also made it possible for families with relatively lower incomes to move to the ownership sector.
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