Demographic change and housing markets in an aging society

"Population aging in the United States (U.S.) has reached an inflection point. The population who are aged 65 and above increased by 19.7 percent between 2010 and 2016, compared with a 4.8 percent increase among the total population. There is a lack of research about how population aging impacts local housing markets at the county level in the United States. My thesis aims to address this research gap. I use fixed effects models to study the causal relationship between the increasing size of the elderly population and housing prices from 1990 to 2010. The results suggest that population aging has no effect on housing prices in general nor any effect on the price of smaller homes (those with two bedrooms or less). However, there is modest evidence that the increase of the elderly population may contribute significant declines in the price of larger houses (with three bedrooms or more). The findings potentially have important implications for urban planning and housing policy. Identifying the need of housing units inhabited by the elderly population helps planners facilitate the appropriate allocation of permitted newly built housing units (for example, smaller homes for the elderly). It will benefit the well-being of the elderly as population aging becomes an imperative issue."--Page ii.