Sorting in an Urban Housing Market – Is There a Response to Demographic Change?
In urban areas, there is considerable neighbourhood-level variation in population characteristics. Using Dortmund as a case study we analyse whether and to what extent rents, housing prices and segregation dynamics corresponded with demographic ageing in urban neighbourhoods between 2007 and 2016. We find that in Dortmund so far there has been no slump of the housing market in neighbourhoods where the population ages more rapidly. Nevertheless, over the study period demographic segregation was on the rise and, according to a hedonic analysis, prices for apartments were higher in districts with a comparatively “younger” population. In the course of further demographic change in Germany, which has come to a contemporary halt due to immigration, the response to ageing on urban housing markets in terms of location choice and prices may therefore become more evident. A large-scale urban regeneration project has revitalised the housing market of a declining Dortmund community during this decade. Since local ageing has not affected housing markets severely so far, it appears to be within the scope of urban policy to upgrade the attractiveness of ageing neighbourhoods as perceived by younger generations.