Effect of house prices on regional migration : A cross-sectional analysis on Swedish municipalities

Abstract: The purpose of this thesis is to investigate what relation house prices have with regional migration in Sweden, with the interest of the study being to investigate how regional migration is affected by differentials in house prices and to see how it has affected migration choices for labor, and, to see if this relationship differed in 2007 and 2017. Theories surrounding regional house prices, regional migration, regional labor mobility, commuting, and accessibility are used to lay the foundation and support the empirical method. The regressions are run using cross-sectional data for the years 2007 and 2017. Whilst the literature review suggests that average house prices should have a negative relation towards in-migration, the conducted regression showcases a positive relation towards in-migration. Furthermore, the study concludes that there are many different variables that can affect regional migration. The results show that the effect of house prices has become weaker in the year 2017 compared to 2007, which could showcase that individuals have changed how they approach migration decision.