Immigration and Swiss House Prices

Kathrin Degen and Andreas M. Fischer

Issue
2010-16

Pages
37

JEL classification
F22, J61, R21

Keywords
Immigration, Housing Prices

Year
2010

This study examines the behavior of Swiss house prices to immigration flows for 85 districts from 2001 to 2006. The results show that the nexus between immigration and house prices holds even in an environment of low house price inflation, nationwide rent control, and modest immigration flows. An immigration inflow equal to 1% of an area's population is coincident with an increase in prices for single-family homes of about 2.7%: a result consistent with previous studies. The overall immigration effect for single-family houses captures almost two-thirds of the total price increase.