The Immigration Housing Market: Analyses for Australia

This paper examines the immigrant adjustment process in Australia from the perspective of the housing market. It shows that immigrant “catch-up” to the native born in the housing market is much more rapid than in the labour market. A decomposition of the estimated coefficients of a logit model of tenure choice is developed that gives formal recognition to the immigrant adjustment process. The results from this decomposition demonstrate the importance of taking account of immigrant adjustment when seeking to understand variations in rates of home ownership across birthplace groups.