title: Physical health effects of the housing boom: quasi-experimental evidence from the health and retirement study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  We examined the impact of the dramatic increases in housing prices in the United States in the 1990s and early 2000s on physical health outcomes among a representative sample of middle-aged and older Americans.
  
  
  METHODS
  Using a quasi-experimental design, we exploited geographic and time variation in housing prices using third-party valuation estimates of median single-family detached houses from 1988 to 2007 in each of 2400 zip codes combined with Health and Retirement Study data from 1992 to 2006 to test the impact of housing appreciation on physical health outcomes.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Respondents living in communities in which home values appreciated more rapidly had fewer functional limitations, performed better on interviewer-administered physical tasks, and had smaller waist circumference.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results indicate that increases in housing wealth were associated with better health outcomes for homeowners in late middle age and older. The recent sharp decline in housing values for this group may likewise be expected to have important implications for health and should be examined as data become available.
authors.affiliation: Amar Hamoudi is with the Sanford School of Public Policy and the Duke Population Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA.
authors.forename: Amar
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hamoudi
authors.forename: Jennifer Beam
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Dowd
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D003132:Commerce / Q000191:economics* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006306:Health Surveys; D006798:Housing / Q000191:economics* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D008176:Lung Volume Measurements; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012179:Retirement / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014481:United States; D055105:Waist Circumference; D016138:Walking / Q000502:physiology