Indicators of Housing Finance Intergenerational Wealth Transfers

This paper sheds light on intrafamilial gifts for housing. By using Austrian intergenerational survey data various questions are addressed. First, is familial aid more or less widespread in given social strata? Second, what are the determinants and motives for family gifts? And third, what are the possible impacts on the choice set of their recipients? Probit estimates show that gifts significantly depend on the parents lifetime financial position, consistent with life cycle permanent income (LCPI) approaches. Gifts to remove liquidity constraints are more difficult to reconcile with LCPI. “Dynastic” gifts that support household formation and ownership acquisition may be interpreted as intergenerational exchange. They occur more frequently than periodical cash transfers where altruistic behavior cannot be ruled out.