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Housing affordability during the urban transition in Spain

Author

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  • Juan Carmona
  • Markus Lampe
  • Joan Rosés

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.
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Suggested Citation

  • Juan Carmona & Markus Lampe & Joan Rosés, 2017. "Housing affordability during the urban transition in Spain," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 70(2), pages 632-658, May.
  • Handle: RePEc:bla:ehsrev:v:70:y:2017:i:2:p:632-658
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1111/ehr.2017.70.issue-2
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    Cited by:

    1. Basco, Sergi & Roses, Joan R., 2025. "Pandemics, capital allocation and structural change," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 128853, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    2. Kholodilin, Konstantin A. & Limonov, Leonid E. & Waltl, Sofie R., 2021. "Housing rent dynamics and rent regulation in St. Petersburg (1880–1917)," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    3. Basco, Sergi & Domènech, Jordi & Rosés, Joan R., 2021. "The redistributive effects of pandemics: Evidence on the Spanish flu," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 141(C).
    4. Konstantin A. Kholodilin, 2016. "War, housing rents, and free market: Berlin's rental housing during World War I," European Review of Economic History, European Historical Economics Society, vol. 20(3), pages 322-344.
    5. Basco, Sergi & Domenech, Jordi & Roses, Joan R., 2020. "The Redistributive Effects of Pandemics: Evidence of the Spanish Flu," Economic History Working Papers 104605, London School of Economics and Political Science, Department of Economic History.
    6. Alicia Gómez-Tello & Alfonso Díez-Minguela & Julio Martinez-Galarraga & Daniel A. Tirado, 2019. "Regional prices in early twentieth-century Spain: a country-product-dummy approach," Cliometrica, Springer;Cliometric Society (Association Francaise de Cliométrie), vol. 13(2), pages 245-276, May.

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    JEL classification:

    • N0 - Economic History - - General

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