Unaffordability in between : sellers and buyers in suburban France

Keywords: housing, property, asset-based welfare, price, spatial analysis, suburbs, France
Abstract Type: Paper Abstract

Abstract

The paper investigates suburban housing dynamics, connecting asset-based welfare policies (Benites, 2022; Doling & Ronald, 2010) and residential market volatility. We investigate how stratified accumulation and vulnerability impinge upon the geography of inequality in property markets, in communities located on the suburban outer fringe of three metropolitan areas in France (Avignon, Lyon and Paris), with singular dynamics of investment, policies and morphology (Keil, 2018). Since the 1990s, housing prices have increased faster than the income of buyers, becoming a driver of social polarization and household vulnerability. We investigate the links between socio-spatial inequality, asset capitalization, instability and vulnerability in residential housing markets.

We connect two dimensions. First, an analysis of the financial instruments between 2009 and 2019. First-time buyers arrival in suburban communities are facilitated by zero-interest loans, while rental fiscal incentives have been restricted. Second, we analyze the local spatial structure of affordability, using transaction data held by the Chamber of Notaries, as well as open-source cadastral and property tax data.
These highly disaggregated dataset of transactions allow to apply fine grain mapping techniques (1 km grids) to individual transaction data to identify the age and socio-occupational categories of sellers and buyers over time, using mapping techniques as in Le Goix, Giraud, Cura, Le Corre, and Migozzi (2019). We also analyze the spatial distribution of investment owned by multiple owners (secondary homes, rental investment). By doing so, we analyze the evolving patterns of accumulation and spatial stratification of suburban and exurban housing property markets.