TY - CHAP T1 - Housing Price Volatility and Downsizing in Later Life T2 - Research Findings in the Economics of Aging Y1 - 2010 A1 - James Banks A1 - Richard Blundell A1 - Oldfield, Zoƫ A1 - James P Smith ED - David A Wise KW - Consumption and Savings KW - Cross-National KW - Demographics KW - Housing KW - Retirement Planning and Satisfaction AB - In this paper, we modeled several types of housing transitions of the elderly in two countries -- Britain and the United States. One important form of these transitions involves downsizing of housing consumption, the importance of which among older households is still debated. This downsizing takes multiple forms, including reductions in the number of rooms per dwelling and the value of the home. There is also evidence that this downsizing is greater when house price volatility is greater and that American households try to escape housing price volatility by moving to places that are experience significantly less housing price volatility. Our comparative evidence in suggests that there is less evidence of downsizing in Britain. Our results indicate that housing consumption appears to decline with age in the US, even after controlling for the other demographic and work transitions associated with age that would normally produce such a decline. No such fall in housing consumption is found in Britain, largely because British households are much more likely to stay in their original residence. JF - Research Findings in the Economics of Aging PB - University of Chicago Press CY - Chicago U4 - Housing/consumption/cross-national comparison/downsizing/Mobility JO - Housing Price Volatility and Downsizing in Later Life ER -