An analysis of factors affecting homeownership: a survey of Hong Kong households
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An analysis of factors affecting homeownership: a survey of Hong Kong households Wadu Mesthrige Jayantha1 · Olugbenga Timo Oladinrin2 Received: 18 December 2018 / Accepted: 6 December 2019 © Springer Nature B.V. 2019
Abstract This study aims at investigating factors affecting household homeownership in Hong Kong. Household economic and socio-demographic factors affecting household decisions to own a home have been long overlooked in the literature, especially in the Hong Kong context. Thus, against a backdrop of recent sky-rocketing housing prices in the Hong Kong property market, characterised with very high construction costs and lucrative spending by mainland immigrants, this study sets out to understand factors preventing homeownership. A total of 502 people were surveyed, using a closed-ended questionnaire containing 14 items identified from the literature. Employing factor analysis, the 14 items were grouped into 4 major factors including: household economy, cost of living/housing, general property cost and availability, and property market uncertainty. It was found that homeownership cut across different age groups and demographic status. Although the respondents did not have consensus in agreement, the results show that the top three significant factors that affect homeownership are: too high house prices, general cost of living pressures, and too high required upfront deposits are too high. The findings have significant implications for the government and policy makers in Hong Kong. Keywords Cost of living · Homeownership · Hong Kong · House prices · Property
1 Introduction Housing is one of the fundamental human needs. Buying and renting are the two most important alternatives in the housing career of a household. Whenever there is opportunity to choose one option out of the two alternatives, many people prefer buying over renting (Opoku and Abdul-Muhmin 2010). Yet, in Hong Kong, changing status from being * Olugbenga Timo Oladinrin [email protected] Wadu Mesthrige Jayantha [email protected] 1
School of Property, Construction and Project Management, RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia
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School of Architecture and Built Environment, Faculty of Science and Engineering, University of Wolverhampton, Wolverhampton, UK
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Vol.:(0123456789)
W. M. Jayantha, O. T. Oladinrin
a tenant to becoming a homeowner has been extremely difficult for most households and promises to continue if decisive action is not taken. Moving from rented apartment to owner occupied home is a major household event and the move is often interconnected to other essential life course events (Dieleman and Everaers 1994). Given that homeownership is the aspiration of many people, western countries have vigorously contested for effective scheme to assist their citizens, for instance in the United States, homeownership has almost turned to a religion (Lands 2008). Most of the policies set up by the government has lured the major players (builders and real estate agents) into the trajectory toward homeownership ideol
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