Geography of evictions due to foreclosure in Spanish cities: evidences from housing units owned by the SAREB

Identifier:  PC:2976

Handle: https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11797/PC2976

Authors:  Gutiérrez, A.; Domènech, A.

Abstract:
The bursting of the housing bubble and the onset of the financial and real estate crisis have resulted, in Spain, in the biggest proliferation of foreclosures and evictions than any Western European countries. That situation reveals the predatory logic of the Spanish real estate model, which has fuelled a huge housing dispossession process. The article provides evidences of the uneven development of the mortgage crisis in the Spanish cities. The study is based on data exploitation of housing stock in the hands of the SAREB acquired through foreclosures. The spatial analysis of the distribution of housing units owned by SAREB in three cities (Alicante, Murcia and Zaragoza) has allowed identifying neighbourhoods with a special concentration of housing dispossession processes. The results show how foreclosures are tending to focus on the most vulnerable neighbourhoods, which translates to a deepening of their precarious situation. These findings show how the financial and real estate crisis are contributing to deepening urban inequality.