Immigration and housing: A spatial econometric analysis

In this paper we examine the effect of immigration into the U.S. on the U.S. housing market, both in terms of rents and single family house prices. We model the housing market in a spatial econometrics context using the spatial Durbin model. This approach helps us exploit and capture both the direct and indirect effects of immigration inflows on the U.S. housing market. We find that an increase in immigration inflows into a particular MSA is associated with increases in rents and with house prices in that MSA while also seeming to drive up rents and prices in neighboring MSAs. The patterns observed in the rental and house price markets, along with the larger spillover effects, are consistent with native-flight from immigrant receiving areas.