The Price-Dampening Effect of Non-profit Housing

This Research Brief provides an overview of the main findings of the study "The Price-Dampening Effect of Non-profit Housing". The study examined the impact of non-profit housing in Austria on the for-profit housing segment in a historical and regional perspective. The focus was on rental housing. By analysing micro census and register data from the last 50 years, the study concludes that non-profit housing associations have a significant impact on the overall Austrian housing market, both in terms of quality and rent levels. It has been shown that a 10 percent increase in the share of non-profit housing associations leads to an average decrease in non-regulated rents of 30 to 40 cents per m2. On average, this corresponds to about 5 percent cheaper rents in the non-regulated rental sector due to the price-dampening effect of GBV.