home ownership = happiness?

Research from a real estate professor at Wharton, Grace Bucchianeri, seems to question the conventional wisdom that home ownership leads to happiness. Knowledge@Wharton newsletter profiles her research in the article, "So you think owning a home will make you happy? Don't be too sure." The article provides a link to the 38-page working paper:

"The results show that after controlling for household income, housing quality, and health, homeowners are no happier than renters by any of the following definitions: life satisfaction, overall mood, overall feeling, general moment-to-moment emotions (i.e. affect) and affect at home but instead derive more pain from their house and home. Time use pattern analysis reveals that homeowners tend to spend less time on enjoyable activities. There is little evidence that homeowners are better citizens. Homeowners who live in ZIP code areas with higher rates of homeownership report more positive attitudes only if other owners are similar to them in socio-economic terms, lending some support to the idea of beneficial social interaction among owners."