Accessibility and Supply Constraints in the Urban Housing Market

This paper discusses some of the chief influences on the urban housing market and their significance for economic analysis. It then looks comparatively at the 'trade-off' approach and the sub-markets approach. Results from an empirical study of owner-occupier housing in Bristol are presented. Although spatial clusters of households and housing types clearly emerged, the empirical tests showed that such spatial structures did not produce separate sub-markets with independent price structures. The data also confirmed a general tendency for unit prices to decline with distance from the centre, but the authors question the importance of the 'trade-off' theory's accessibility factor relative to historical features and planning policies.