Corrections to the Imputed Variables Related to Housing Equities

Corrections to the Imputed Variables Related to Housing Equities in AHEAD 1995, and HRS 1996, 1998, and 2000 Imputation Data

September 9, 2003

Problems have been found with the imputations for primary home variables in HRS 1996, 1998, and 2000 data, and for the primary and second home variables in AHEAD 1995 data. The basic problem is that we have imputed home values for the households whose answers to the home ownership questions (including questions about farm/ranch, mobile home, and single-family house, apartment, and townhouse) were neither "own" nor "rent", but "other". We now believe that those households should be treated as "not-owning home", and, thus, should have a value of "0" (zero) on all the variables related to the home.

The variables affected by this data alert include the imputed values of the primary home, mortgage balance and payment, and real estate tax in all the waves identified, as well as the imputed values of the second home, mortgage balance and payment,and real estate tax in AHEAD 1995 (see Table 1 below). The constructed net worth variables in the HRS 1998 and 2000 wealth sections are also affected.

Table 1. Housing Variables Affected by the Data Alert
Concept of Variable	Names of the Variables Affected
	AHEAD95	HRS96	HRS98	HRS00
Primary Home Variables
Primary Home Equity	DHOME1	EHOME1	FHOME1	GHOME1
Primary Home Value	D2246X	E2246X	F2753X/F2760X	G3071X/G3078X
1st Mortgage Owned	D2256X	E2256X	F2773X	G3091X
Payment on 1st Mortgage	D2252X	E2252X	F2769X	G3087X
2nd Mortgage Owned	D2263X	E2263X	F2780X	G3098X
Payment on 2nd Mortgage	D2260X	E2260X	F2777X	G3095X
Other Loans Owned	D2270X	E2270X	F2787X	G3105X
Payment on Other Loans	D2267X	E2267X	F2784X	G3102X
Real Estate Tax	D2292X	E2292X	F2809X	G3127X
Second Home Variables
Second Home Equity	DHOME2
Second Home Value	D2435X
Mortgage Owned	D2445X
Payment on the Mortgage	D2441X
Real Estate Tax	D2480X

The problem can be corrected fairly simply by modifying the imputation data according to the answers to the home ownership questions (including questions about farm/ranch, mobile home, and single-family house, apartment, and townhouse) in the core.

The detailed correction statements follow.

(1) Corrections to the Variables Related to Housing Equities in AHEAD 1995

 if D2226=7 or D2229=7 or D2234=7 then do;
    DHOME1=0;
    D2246X=0;
    D2256X=0;
    D2252X=0;
    D2263X=0;
    D2260X=0;
    D2270X=0;
    D2267X=0;
    D2292X=0;
 end;

 if D2409=7 or D2412=7 or D2417=7 then do;
    DHOME2=0;
    D2435X=0;
    D2445X=0;
    D2441X=0;
    D2480X=0;
 end;

(2) Corrections to the Variables Related to Housing Equities in HRS 1996

 if E2226=7 or E2229=7 or E2234=7 then do;
    EHOME1=0;
    E2246X=0;
    E2256X=0;
    E2252X=0;
    E2263X=0;
    E2260X=0;
    E2270X=0;
    E2267X=0;
    E2292X=0;
 end;

(3) Corrections to the Variables Related to Housing Equities in HRS 1998

 if (F2743=7 and F2746=. and F2751=.) or (F2743=. and F2746=7 and F2751=.)
   or (F2743=. and F2746=. and F2751=7) then do;
     FHOME1=0;
     F2753X=0;
     F2760X=0;
     F2773X=0;
     F2769X=0;
     F2780X=0;
     F2777X=0;
     F2787X=0;
     F2784X=0;
     F2809X=0;
 end;

(4) Corrections to the Variables Related to Housing Equities in HRS 2000

 if (G3061=7 and G3064=. and G3069=.) or (G3061=. and G3064=7 and G3069=.)
    or (G3061=. and G3064=. and G3069=7) then do;
     GHOME1=0;
     G3071X=0;
     G3078X=0;
     G3091X=0;
     G3087X=0;
     G3098X=0;
     G3095X=0;
     G3105X=0;
     G3102X=0;
     G3127X=0;
 end;

To give users a sense of the scale of the changes related to this data alert, Table 2 compares the mean values and standard deviations for the relevant housing equity and networth variables before and after the corrections.

Table 2. Housing Equity and Networth before and After Corrections
		AHEAD95	HRS96	HRS98	HRS00
		Mean	Mean	Mean	Mean
PRIMARY HOME EQUITY	Before Corrections	69,523 (115,880)	70,952 (95,840)	77,310 (217,451)	87,737 (216,927)
	After Corrections	64,247 (115,191)	69,331 (95,737)	73,562 (217,177)	83,160 (216,374)
SECOND HOME EQUITY	Before Corrections	3,749 (30,688)
	After Corrections	2,885 (27,479)
NET WORTH	Before Corrections		281,025 (1,039,409)	326,587 (973,878)
	After Corrections		277,276 (1,039,764)	322,010 (974,439)
Note: Standard deviations in parentheses.