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Abstract

Constellations of Scarcity on the Viennese Housing Market. Relevant Factors and Negotiation Processes from the Perspective of Housing Seekers Using Vienna as an example, the article develops a differentiated view of scarcity in the housing market that goes beyond a general consideration of the relationship between supply and demand or its focus on issues of affordability or formal accessibility. In addition to looking at housing supply and access regulations, it focuses on the demand side through a qualitative analysis of the experiences of people looking for housing, presented in explorative case studies, asking for whom and due to what factors housing is scarce. The results suggest that the socio-cultural resources of housing seekers, such as origin and language, knowledge of the housing market, housing search practices and strategies, and time invested in housing search, are additional factors influencing scarcity that have only been marginally considered. At the same time, the paper shows that the way in which housing needs are manifested as demand in a housing market through the actions of housing seekers is the result of complex negotiations and trade-offs that take place against the background of subjective assessments of scarcity in parts of the housing market and experiences of one's own opportunities in this context.