Immigration and the Neighborhood: New Evidence from Recent Immigrants in Hong Kong

This study examines the causal effect of the recent inflow of high-skilled immigrants on the housing value of the properties of Hong Kong natives. We categorize homebuyers into local, Mainland Chinese, and other foreigners, and construct neighborhood-level housing profiles based on housing transactions from 2011 to 2016. We estimate the impact of immigrants on housing value at the neighborhood level. By using instrumental variable estimation, we find that recent immigrant inflow does not generate significant impact on the willingness of Hong Kong natives to pay for housing units.