What Do We Learn from Mobile Phone Location Data about Mobility and Housing During Covid-19

30 Pages Posted: 28 Dec 2023 Last revised: 2 Jan 2024

See all articles by Shizhen Wang

Shizhen Wang

University College London

Stanimira Milcheva

University College London

Nikodem Szumilo

UCL - University College London

Date Written: December 23, 2023

Abstract

We use mobile phone location data from the UK to investigate the impact of mobility on the housing market during the Covid-19 pandemic. We analyse more than 267 million cell phone locations and timestamp records attributed to 126,261 individuals in England and Wales in March 2020 and 2021. Our analysis reveals that as a result of the pandemic, the average frequency with which individuals visit the workplace decreased from 4 days to 2.8 days per week. We found areas with higher work from home potential or remote work share are associated with less visits to the workplace during COVID-19. We use a first-difference instrumental variable model and observe that a 10% reduction in workplace visit frequency is associated with a 1% decline in house prices and a 4.6% decrease in rents. We also find that places characterised with high numbers of visits to local amenities during the pandemic are associated with larger house prices increase, but no significant impact on rents.

Keywords: Mobility patterns, house prices and rents, workplace visits, amenities, mobile phone location data, Covid-19

JEL Classification: R21, R30, J60, R12

Suggested Citation

Wang, Shizhen and Milcheva, Stanimira and Szumilo, Nikodem, What Do We Learn from Mobile Phone Location Data about Mobility and Housing During Covid-19 (December 23, 2023). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4674302 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4674302

Shizhen Wang (Contact Author)

University College London ( email )

Gower Street
London, WC1E 6BT
United Kingdom

Stanimira Milcheva

University College London ( email )

1-19 Torrington Place
Bartlett School of Sustainable Construction
London, London WC1E 7HB
United Kingdom

HOME PAGE: http://www.stanimilcheva.com

Nikodem Szumilo

UCL - University College London ( email )

Gower Street
London, WC1E 6BT
United Kingdom

Do you have a job opening that you would like to promote on SSRN?

Paper statistics

Downloads
81
Abstract Views
730
Rank
590,440
PlumX Metrics