Housing Wealth

The ECB, via it STC Expert Group on Linking Macro and Micro data for the household sector, explores the feasibility and methods for combining distributional data from the Household Finance and Consumption Survey (HFCS) and the quarterly national accounts. As dwellings owned by households contribute a high share of total household wealth, the quality of HFCS information and their adjustment for integration in the distributional accounts is important. The long-term research work of the consultant relies on additional information collected via the Luxembourgish version of the HFCS during 2018 and wich incorporates specific questions and issues that will help to achieve these objectives. Additionally, transaction data are used to assess the accuracy of self-reported values. The research is embedded in a larger project entitled "Are People Aware of their Wealth? Reliability of and Consequences from Using Self-Assessed House Prices and Hypothetical Rents Based on Joint Evidence from Survey and Experimental Data" (ASSESS), carried out under the lead of the consultant as part of her work at the LISER.