Immigration and Housing Rents: Short‐Run Effects of the 2015 Refugee Crisis in Germany
Journal
Journal of Regional Science
ISSN
1467-9787
Type
journal article
Date Issued
2025-07-08
Author(s)
Abstract
We study the impact of the 2015 mass arrival of refugees in Germany on housing rents. Using data on county-level refugee populations and offers of flats for rent from Germany's leading online property broker ImmobilienScout24, we find strong and robust evidence in DiD and IV regressions that refugee immigration adversely affected rental price growth. Additional explorations into native (German) mobility responses, related housing market metrics, and regional effect heterogeneity by prevalence of anti-refugee crimes, crimes against natives involving refugee suspects, neighborhood (1 km grid) characteristics, and local exposure to different types of refugee housing suggest that perceptions of refugee immigration as a (source of) disamenity are major drivers of our findings.
Language
English
HSG Classification
contribution to scientific community
Refereed
Yes
Publisher
Wiley
Volume
65
Number
5
Subject(s)
Division(s)