Viewing 9 posts categorized under Urban Economics
December 14, 2024
What happens when short-term rentals open in your neighbourhood? This question has sparked intense debate across academia and the media. It has also received attention from policymakers, mainly due to some negative implications: reducing housing supply, increasing house prices and displacing residents. However, short-term rentals can also offer more opportunities for local businesses and create new jobs.
Caption: Registry rates in Lisbon. Caption: Registry rates in Porto. Portugal provides the ideal setting to scrutinise the impact of such type of accommodation on its surrounding economic environment as 12% of the housing stock in Porto and 11% in Lisbon was used for short-term rentals between 2015 and 2020.
August 29, 2024
Increased housing affordability problems are well-known in the European Union (EU) and Portugal. According to a study by the International Monetary Fund, Portugal ranks ninth in house price increases in 2020 and third in price-to-income (an indicator of housing unaffordability). Within the EU, Portugal ranks second in house price increases (adjusted for inflation) from 2016 to 2020.
In a sectorial context of price increases and affordability concerns, it is common for governments to resort to taxing excessive profits.
January 16, 2024
In the last decade, Portugal has witnessed a significant surge in tourism. This phenomenon, coupled with the proliferation of temporary accommodation services and short-term rental platforms such as Airbnb, has sparked an intense debate due to their perceived role in driving up house prices and displacing residents, shaping the urban landscape across the country, especially in highly touristic areas. This paper studies the substantial growth of short-term rentals in Portugal (see the figure) driven by a pivotal 2014 policy change that created a streamlined process for hosts to register their short-term accommodation services, commonly known as local lodging establishments, to assess its impact on housing prices.
February 7, 2022
While beneficial for the economic recovery of Portugal, the rising trend as a tourist destination can also generate negative impacts in the population. One important concern is the rising costs of housing, particularly in the city centers. The authors collected data for the period 2011-2014 on Airbnb presence, house prices and rents to quantify the impact of Airbnb’s short-term rentals on housing affordability in Portugal.
Caption: Transaction Prices, in €/m2, in civil parishes within Lisbon and Porto.
November 8, 2021
In 2017, according to the IMob 2017 Travel Survey, 59% of all passenger trips in Lisbon’s Metropolitan Area were made by private car, while public transportation accounted only for approximately 16% of trips. The dependence on private car for travelling in Portugal’s largest metropolitan area increased from 21% in 1991, to 40% in 2001, and 54% in 2011. In contrast, public transport use has substantially reduced, dropping from 56% of all passenger trips in 1991, to 38% in 2001, and 28% in 2011.
August 19, 2021
Transport infrastructure is an expensive investment and is considered to be an important driver of economic growth. Portugal’s road network remained of poor quality until the last quarter of the 20th century. The country had less than 200 km of motorways before joining the EU in 1986, whereas in 2017 it had the fifth and third highest endowments of motorways relative to population and GDP, respectively, in the EU.
This study investigates the factors that influenced the allocation of motorways across municipalities in mainland Portugal between 1981 and 2011.
May 20, 2021
Portugal moved from having less than 200 km of motorways before joining the European Union in 1986 to having, according to the Eurostat, the fifth highest endowment of motorways relative to population in 2017, and the third relative to GDP in the Union. This paper studies the relationship between the expansion of the Portuguese motorway network between 1981 and 2011 and the growth of population and employment across mainland municipalities.
March 13, 2021
This paper analyzes housing rental rates at the parish level within municipalities. The analysis explores spatial patterns of housing rents in 4049 Portuguese parishes across 278 municipalities using data from the 2011 Population and Housing Census from the Portuguese National Institute for Statistics.
Housing rental rates tend to be higher in parishes with greater population density (measured by the number of citizens living per square kilometer), a higher number of dwellings, and greater potential sustainability (measured as the ratio of working-age population-between 15 and 64 years-to elderly population-aged 65 and over), better mobility (measured as resident population employed outside the territorial unit plus employed non-resident population in the territorial unit divided by employed resident population), and a higher social-diversity ratio (measured as a weighted average of each socioeconomic group), besides the dwelling’s useful area in square meters.
July 30, 2016
Historic cities are identifiable through their iconic monuments and buildings. Location relative to these structures generate premiums in the housing market. We examine the impact of such historic amenities on housing prices in Lisbon, Portugal. Results reveal heterogeneous impacts from different types of monuments. Churches, palaces and stone architecture have their own unique impact on the market and landmarks generate the highest premiums.
Residents value living in proximity to a non-landmark church (yielding a premium of 4.