Consecuencias de la integración de la comunidad inmigrante en Españaanálisis de las tasas de propiedad de vivienda

Abstract

The purpose of this thesis is to study the socioeconomic integration process of the foreign population living in Spain by analyzing its housing tenure decisions. Several studies link the decision to own a home as a milestone in the assimilation process, reflective of significant socioeconomic achievement. Currently, more than 86% of Spanish population is a homeowner while among immigrants the rate is only 25%. This represents a homeownership rate gap of approximately 60 percentage points, revealing the relevance of studying the determinants of this decision. The analysis is conducted in two levels. In the first level, we explore to what extent compositional differences between immigrants and natives are responsible for this disparity and identify its main determinants. The second level deepens into the key factors explaining the likelihood of homeownership among immigrants. It focuses on the most relevant groups of origin: Latin Americans, Non-EU Europeans and North Africans. Our results show that compositional differences account for only 25%-34% of homeownership gaps, while more than 66% is explained by factors related to immigrant experience and the adaptation to the host society. In addition, three distinctive integration profiles are identified. Depending on the group of origin, these profiles showcase differences in the nature of immigration projects as well as cultural distance between natives and immigrants in Spain.