February 5 – 2026

Trajectories of home ownership: Gender and regional perspectives from Sweden

Helena Bohman, Senior Lecturer, Department of Urban Studies at Malmö University

Abstract
Research shows that housing situations, as well as housing trajectories, differ between women and men. We also know that income inequalities in many countries have increased over the last decades. Patterns of wealth accumulation however – which often are based around home ownership – remain less studied. Understanding homeownership is therefore key to understand also other aspects of economic development. We use Swedish register data on single-family home ownership to follow property value and ownership trajectories between men and women. The very strong local characteristics of housing markets also motivates integrating regional perspectives. Using cohort analysis, we address the following research questions; i) how do housing-related wealth trajectories differ between men and women, ii) are there signs that gender-based differences are changing over cohorts, and iii) how do the patterns change in a regional context. Our analysis shows declining ownership for younger cohorts. While women enter housing ownership earlier than men, ownership rates of men surpass women over time. This may seem paradoxical, given that early entry to the housing market has been economically advantageous in general during the last decades. We find persisting differences between women and men, with potential long-term implications for an individual’s welfare over the lifecycle.

Discussant: Sven Tengstam, Lecturer, Department of Urban Studies at Malmö University

Chair: Martin Grander, Senior Lecturer, Department of Urban Studies at Malmö University