Housing Tenure and Mobility with an Acquisition-Based Property Tax: The Case of Florida

Assessment Growth Limits and Mobility: Evidence From Home Sale Data in Detroit, Michigan

“…The existing research on the potential impacts of assessment growth limits on mobility has focused on California and Florida. Specifically, O'Sullivan, Sexton, and Sheffrin (1995), Nagy (1997), Stohs, Childs, and Stevenson (2001), Wasi and White (2005), Ferreira (2009), and Ferreira, Gyourko, and Tracy (2010) study the potential lock-in effect resulting from California's Proposition 13, and Stansel, Jackson, and Finch (2007) and Ihlanfeldt (2011) focus on Florida's Save Our Homes program. Consider first the California studies.…”

“…There are also two studies that focus on Florida's assessment growth cap. Stansel, Jackson, and Finch (2007) compared average home tenure of full-time homeowners in 2002 and 2006 -before and after the implementation of the assessment growth limit. The researchers hypothesized that average home tenure would be longer in 2006 because homeowners would have accumulated tax savings and would be less willing to move.…”

Do Caps on Increases in Assessed Values Create a Lock-In Effect? Evidence From Florida's Amendment One

“…The only study to focus on Florida's SOH amendment, Stansel, Jackson, and Finch (2007), compares the average tenure in years of full-time homeowners in 20 Florida counties at two points in time -2002 and 2006. According to Stansel, Jackson, and Finch (2007, p. 124), "After the implementation of an acquisitional-based property tax system, such as Florida's Save Our Homes, one would expect tenure to increase over time for any given individual due to the accumulation of larger and larger tax savings from the reduction in assessed value below market value."…”

Do Caps on Increases in Assessed Values Create a Lock-in Effect? Evidence From Florida's Amendment One

“…The only study to focus on Florida's SOH amendment, Stansel, Jackson, and Finch (2007), compares the average tenure in years of full-time homeowners in 20 Florida counties at two points in time -2002and 2006. According to Stansel, Jackson, and Finch (2007, "After the implementation of an acquisitional-based property tax system, such as Florida's Save Our Homes, one would expect tenure to increase over time for any given individual due to the accumulation of larger and larger tax savings from the reduction in assessed value below market value."…”

“…This is potentially a serious issue because artifi cially induced residential immobility can reduce both housing and labor market effi ciency. 2 Nagy (1997), Stohs, Childs, and Stevenson (2001), Wasi et al (2005), Stansel, Jackson, and Finch (2007), Ferreira (2009), and Ferreira, Gyourko, and Tracy (forthcoming) have empirically investigated whether a cap on increases in assessed value reduces Keith R. Ihlanfeldt: Department of Economics and DeVoe Moore Center, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida, USA (kihlanfe@fsu.edu) mobility (commonly referred to as a "lock-in" effect). 3 Except for Stansel, Jackson, and Finch, all of the studies focus on Proposition 13, which was passed in 1978 in the state of California.…”