Housing affordability sets us apart: The effect of rising housing prices on relocation behaviour

Abstract

Life course events such as new offspring or job loss affect a household’s demand for housing. At the same time, dynamics in the real estate market constrain where households find affordable housing. In a quasi-experimental design, this study examines the effect of increasing local housing prices on the relocation behaviour of low- and medium-income households. Difference-in-difference panel regressions using propensity score matching show that with rising local rental prices, low-income households are more likely to remain in their current housing and sustain higher levels of housing cost burden. If they move, they relocate further out of the city centre and to neighbourhoods with high unemployment rates. Rising housing markets facilitate socio-spatial segregation as middle-income households remain in economically better-off neighbourhoods. The findings highlight the additional costs of increasing housing prices in terms of the misallocation of housing and the spatial concentration of vulnerable households at the outskirts of cities.