The National Association of Realtors completed a review of academic research on the benefits of homeownership. Obviously there was an agenda but according to the study the following are a few of the social benefits that stem from homeownership.
*Higher educational performance and better behavior of children
*Lower community crime rates
*Lessened welfare dependency among households
*More household participation in civic affairs
*Better household health.
See NAR’s Social Benefits of Homeownership and Stable Housing
May 5th, 2008 at 11:11 am
Correlation doth not maketh causation.
Basic rule of statistics.
One might be more inclined to suggest that, since this was a US study, poverty (and thus lack of homeowning) begets crime, not home-ownership.
Germans, for example, rarely own their own homes. I think their crime rate is far less than in the US.
Just so you know