According to recent study from researchers at the University of Maryland, the fertility rate of homeowners might be related to the real estate market. The study found that when housing prices increase, non-home owners tend to have fewer children, while the opposite is true for those couples who already own a home.
According to recent study from researchers at the University of Maryland, the fertility rate of homeowners might be related to the real estate market.
The study found that when housing prices increase, non-home owners tend to have fewer children, while the opposite is true for those couples who already own a home.
When their property value increases, they tend to have more children.
Results of the study show that for every 10 thousand dollar increase in the housing price during the years 1997 to 2006, the fertility rate of homeowners increased by 5 percent and the fertility rate of non-home owners decreased by 2 point 4 percent.
Laurent Belsie at the National Bureau of Economic Research wrote: “Rising home values have a negative impact on non-owner's birth rates because they represent, on average, the largest component of the cost of raising a child: larger than food, child care, or education.”
The reason behind homeowners having more children as the value of their property increases is that the home equity can be used to help pay for the expenses associated with raising a child.
