Why and Where Do Homeowners Associations Form?

Abstract

Homeowners associations (HOAs) have proliferated in recent decades as an important provider of local public services, particularly in fast-growing states such as Florida. What explains their popularity and, specifically, their formation? We argue that the location and timing of an HOA’s formation are driven by demand-side, supply-side, and institutional factors. Our data come from the most comprehensive statewide database of HOAs constructed to date. We use a duration analysis framework to explore which factors predict when an HOA first enters a census tract. We find that predominantly White, higher income census tracts obtain HOAs sooner, as do tracts farther from the city center and with higher vacancy rates. When we incorporate local public finance variables into our analysis, we find that tracts in cities where residents spend more on public services are less likely to have HOAs, which suggests that public expenditures and HOA services may be regarded as substitutable.

Publisher

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research

Publication Date

1-1-2014

Publication Title

Cityscape: A Journal of Policy Development and Research

Department

Economics

Document Type

Article

Language

English

Format

text

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