To Own or to Rent? The Effects of Transaction Taxes on Housing Markets.

Using sales and leasing data, this paper finds three novel effects of a higher property transaction tax: higher buy-to-rent transactions alongside lower buy-to-own transactions despite both being taxed, a lower sales-to-leases ratio, and a lower price-to-rent ratio. This paper explains these facts b...

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Publicado en:Review of Economic Studies Vol. 93; no. 4; pp. 2605 - 2646
Autores principales: Han, Lu, Ngai, L Rachel, Sheedy, Kevin D
Formato: Artículo
Publicado: Oxford University Press / USA Jul2026
Materias:
Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
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      dt: Jul2026
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        atl: To Own or to Rent? The Effects of Transaction Taxes on Housing Markets.
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        au:
          Han, Lu
          Ngai, L Rachel
          Sheedy, Kevin D
        affil:
          University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA
          London School of Economics, CEPR, and CfM, UK
          London School of Economics and CfM, UK
      su:
        Housing market
        Home ownership
        House buying
        Property tax
      sug:
        subj:
          Housing market
          Home ownership
          House buying
          Property tax
      keyword:
        Buy-to-rent investors
        copyrightHolder:Review of Economic Studies Ltd
        copyrightYear:2026
        Homeownership rate
        inLanguage:en
        publisher:Oxford University Press
        Rental market
        sameAs:https://dx.doi.org/10.1093/restud/rdaf092
        Transaction taxes
        Buy-to-rent investors
        copyrightHolder:Review of Economic Studies Ltd
        copyrightYear:2026
        Homeownership rate
        inLanguage:en
        publisher:Oxford University Press
        Rental market
        sameAs:https://dx.doi.org/10.1093/restud/rdaf092
        Transaction taxes
      ab: Using sales and leasing data, this paper finds three novel effects of a higher property transaction tax: higher buy-to-rent transactions alongside lower buy-to-own transactions despite both being taxed, a lower sales-to-leases ratio, and a lower price-to-rent ratio. This paper explains these facts by developing a search model with entry of investors and households, households choosing to own or rent in the presence of credit frictions, and homeowners deciding when to move house. A higher transaction tax reduces homeowners' mobility and increases demand for rental properties, which explains the empirical facts and leads to a lower homeownership rate. The deadweight loss is large at 111% of tax revenue, with more than half of this due to distorting decisions to own or rent.
      pubtype: Academic Journal
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      src: R
    language: English
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