Housing affordability during the urban transition in Spain

Carmona, Juan, Lampe, Markus and Rosés, Joan ORCID: 0000-0003-0661-3134 (2017) Housing affordability during the urban transition in Spain. Economic History Review, 70 (2). 632 - 658. ISSN 0013-0117

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Abstract

During the decades prior to the Civil War, Spain experienced a rapid process of urbanization, which was accompanied by the demographic transition and sizeable rural–urban migrations. This article investigates how urban housing markets reacted to these far-reaching changes, which increased demand for dwellings. To this end, this study employs a new hedonic index of real housing prices and constructs a cross-regional panel dataset of rents and housing price fundamentals. This new evidence indicates that rents were not a significant financial burden on low-income families and, hence, housing was affordable for the working classes. The article also shows that families’ access to new homes was facilitated by a sizeable growth in the housing supply. Substantial investments in urban infrastructure and the institutional framework enabled the construction of new homes at affordable prices. Our results suggest that housing problems were not as pervasive during the urban transition as the literature often seems to claim.

Item Type:	Article
Official URL:	https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/14680289
Additional Information:	© 2016 Economic History Society
Divisions:	Economic History
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HC Economic History and Conditions H Social Sciences > HN Social history and conditions. Social problems. Social reform
Date Deposited:	17 Jan 2017 15:32
Last Modified:	01 Apr 2024 08:26
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/68886

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