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Housing and Inequality

Author

Listed:
  • Ioannides, Yannis
  • Ngai, Liwa Rachel

Abstract

We approach the literature on housing and inequality from two angles. One is the impact of unequal endowments on housing. The second is the "memberships" inequality associated with neighborhoods, namely, households' location in a geographic and social context. We elaborate on these two angles of inequality and focus on three distinctive features of housing: consumption, capital and location. For owner-occupants, capital and consumption are bundled together in a single good. For both renters and owner-occupants, housing consumption inequality, access to good neighborhoods, and housing wealth follow from unequal endowments. Housing can propagate inequality by enabling owner-occupants to use it as collateral for other investments, or secure higher returns to human capital investments through the better schools in better neighborhoods. We use this approach to analyse key aspects of housing and inequality, paying special attention to the impacts of racial discrimination and segregation.

Suggested Citation

  • Ioannides, Yannis & Ngai, Liwa Rachel, 2025. "Housing and Inequality," CEPR Discussion Papers 19907, Centre for Economic Policy Research.
    • Handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:19907
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    File URL: https://cepr.org/publications/DP19907
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    1. is not listed on IDEAS
    2. Botelho Azevedo, Alda & Gonçalves, Inês & Pereira dos Santos, João, 2025. "Can’t Buy Me Home: Beliefs, Facts, and Policy in the Housing Affordability Crisis," IZA Discussion Papers 18073, IZA Network @ LISER.
    3. Duha T. Altindag & John M. Nunley & R. Alan Seals, 2026. "Mobile Foreigners: Mortgage Lock-In and H-1B Demand," Papers 2605.28904, arXiv.org.
    4. Jörg Claussen & David Streich & Katerina Vlieg & Steffen Zetzmann, 2026. "Statutory Incidence Matters: Evidence from a Policy Intervention in the German Housing Market," CESifo Working Paper Series 12618, CESifo.
    5. Katja Gehr & Linus Kraft & Michael Pflüger, 2026. "Housing in Big Cities: The Capitalization Premium," CESifo Working Paper Series 12430, CESifo.
    6. Ding, Yawen & Wang, Xiaobing & Chen, Qihui, 2025. "Windfall gains and household consumption: Regression-discontinuity evidence from urban China’s preferential housing policies," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 240(C).
    7. Páscoa, Jorge & Peralta, Susana & Pereira dos Santos, João, 2026. "Touristification and the Unequal Incidence of Housing Shocks: Evidence from Tax Records," IZA Discussion Papers 18666, IZA Network @ LISER.
    8. Siminski, Peter & Wilkins, Roger, 2025. "Housing, Income Inequality and Progressivity of Taxes and Transfers," IZA Discussion Papers 18303, IZA Network @ LISER.

    More about this item

    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • R3 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Real Estate Markets, Spatial Production Analysis, and Firm Location
    • E2 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment
    • D3 - Microeconomics - - Distribution

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