‘The housing market in Spain: bubbles, young people and public policies’

Antonio Ciccone, Miguel Ángel López García, Pablo Fleiss.

According to appraisal company data compiled by the Ministry of Development, house prices rose 125% between 1998 and the second quarter of 2004. This is a phenomenon with far-reaching economic and social consequences.This project sets out to fill some important gaps in the economic literature. In Spain?s case, a number of studies have looked at house price behaviour in aggregate terms. However, little evidence has been gathered about the role of expectations of future rises in driving prices higher, how the cost of housing affects young people?s decisions about forming a home, and the kind of public policies that might serve to curb the inflationary spiral.