Preferences on the Rental Housing Market - What Factors Determine the Attractiveness of an Apartment in Gothenburg?

Abstract

This thesis is an empirical examination of the demand side of the rental housing market in Gothenburg. The study is done in collaboration with Boplats Göteborg, the main housing agency in the city. Due to certain regulations on the rental housing market, the demand cannot be fully observed through the price mechanism. In this paper, the demand for an apartment (days since agency registration required for getting a first-hand contract) is decomposed into a price component and several apartment-specific characteristics in a linear model. Empirically, some extra focus is put on the districts of Majorna and Kungsladugård – two areas where a large share of the total housing consists of rental apartments, and where the demand for housing is exceptionally high. The results suggest that the geographic location to a very large extent determine the queuing time required. The monthly rents and (to some extent) the floors are also significant determinants. In addition, both Majorna and Kungsladugård seem to have extremely strong area effects, even when the lower rents in these areas are controlled for.