The Mediating Effect of Housing Search on the relationship between Demographics and Residential Housing Decisions amongst Apartment Households
Abstract
The study sought to investigate the mediating effect of housing search on the
relationship between apartment household demographics and four residential
owner-occupied housing decisions. Using two-stage cluster sampling, a sample of
196 respondents (owner-occupied households) was studied in Nairobi County,
Kenya. The study found that housing search has a mediating effect on the
relationship between household demographics and choice of neighbourhood,
choice of location of house, source of financing and size of apartment house
though the mediation was found to be not statistically significant in each of the
four relationships. Consequently, formal housing search behaviour was found not
to be a popular mode of alleviating information challenges in the housing market
since the study recorded very low levels of housing search in support and in
contradiction of empirical evidence from housing markets in the West. The study
cites implications to policy and practice, limitations associated with the study and
makes suggestions for further study.
URI
http://ku.ac.ke/schools/business/images/stories/docs/The%20mediating%20Effect%20of%20Housing.pdfhttp://hdl.handle.net/11295/84965