Urban financialization and the rental bubble in Spain: Trends and contrasts from a multi-scale perspective

Abstract

The recent evolution of Spanish cities has been conditioned by the growing attraction of financial capital towards real estate investment. In the upward cycle at the beginning of the century, the main driver was the expansion of mortgage credit. The bursting of this bubble led to the deep crisis of the last decade. After 2013, a new real estate cycle began that was also related with the reactivation of the rental market, producing intense social and spatial inequalities. This article analyzes the recent evolution of rental housing and rental prices, as well as these strong spatial inequalities at different scales. The main factors of the reactivation, particularly the new financial players, are then interpreted. Finally, the role of the current expansion of residential rentals as a mode of income extraction and a factor of residential exclusion is analyzed.