Abstract
Past research has demonstrated the racially and spatially uneven impacts of economic shocks and environmental disasters on various markets. In this article, we examine if and how the first few months of the COVID-19 pandemic affected the market for rental housing in the 49 largest metropolitan areas in the United States. Using a unique data set of new rental listings gathered from Craigslist and localized measures of the pandemic’s severity we find that, from mid-March to early June, local spread of COVID-19 is followed by reduced median and mean rent. However, this trend is driven by dropping rents for listings in Black, Latino, and diverse neighborhoods. Listings in majority White neighborhoods experience rent increases during this time. Our analyses make multiple contributions. First, we add to the burgeoning literature examining the rental market as a key site of perpetuating sociospatial inequality. Second, we demonstrate the utility of data gathered online for analyzing housing. And third, by reflecting on research that shows how past crises have increased sociospatial inequality and up-to-date work showing the racially and spatially unequal effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, we discuss some possible mechanisms by which the pandemic may be affecting the market for rental housing as well as implications for long-term trends.
Highlights
Past research has demonstrated the racially and spatially uneven impacts of economic shocks and environmental disasters on various markets
We explore the effects of the first few months of the COVID-19 crisis in the United States on the market for metropolitan rental housing
To understand the pandemic’s impact on the rental market, we assembled a data set on rental housing in the 49 largest metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) gathered continuously throughout the crisis from Craigslist, the largest website for rental housing advertisements in the United States
Summary
Past research has demonstrated the racially and spatially uneven impacts of economic shocks and environmental disasters on various markets. Using a unique data set of new rental listings gathered from Craigslist and localized measures of the pandemic’s severity we find that, from mid-March to early June, local spread of COVID-19 is followed by reduced median and mean rent. This trend is driven by dropping rents for listings in Black, Latino, and diverse neighborhoods. By reflecting on research that shows how past crises have increased sociospatial inequality and up-to-date work showing the racially and spatially unequal effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, we discuss some possible mechanisms by which the pandemic may be affecting the market for rental housing as well as implications for long-term trends. We leverage descriptive analyses and two-way fixed effects regression models to estimate the relationship between rising COVID-19 cases and the volume of posts (i.e., the number of available rental units advertised) and the advertised rent of available units
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