Heterogenous Rates of Return on Homes: Do The Rich Do Better?

Abstract

Recent work on wealth inequality using the capitalization method wherein aggregate wealth totals are distributed proportionately to property income like dividends motivates concern about whether rates of return on assets vary across the income or wealth distribution. Here I use accrued capital gains and imputed rent on homes estimated from the Survey of Consumer Finances to address this issue. Both capital gains and imputed rent form part of total income. I find strong econometric evidence that returns vary directly with wealth level and are considerably higher for very wealthy compared to poorer households. However, I do not find evidence that higher income households receive higher returns once controlling for overall market house price trends. Returns are also strongly related to overall market house price movements, suggesting that timing the market is a key determinant. However, paradoxically, adding housing returns to baseline household wealth reduces overall wealth inequality.