Migrants on the Property Ladder: The Role of Location in Shaping Housing Wealth Disparities in Urban China

ABSTRACT Existing studies on migrant housing have predominantly focused on access to homeownership and housing conditions in destination cities, largely overlooking the dimension of asset accumulation. In recent decades, an increasing number of migrants have achieved homeownership in their destination cities, hometowns, or elsewhere. However, where they purchase property significantly impacts the wealth they are able to accumulate. Drawing on data from the “Employment Status and Living Conditions of Migrants in Yangtze River Delta Cities” survey, this study investigates how migrants with varying socioeconomic characteristics and migration patterns choose the location for entering homeownership within the urban hierarchy, thereby influencing their housing wealth accumulation. The findings reveal that owning property in destination cities leads to higher market values and faster housing appreciation compared to owning property in hometown cities. However, only migrants with institutional and economic advantages, as well as those originating from higher‐tier cities, are more capable of securing homeownership in destination cities, thereby boarding the escalator of housing wealth accumulation. By adopting a spatial perspective, this study highlights the profound impact of a city's position within the urban hierarchy on migrants' asset accumulation. The findings offer policy implications aimed at reducing institutional barriers, such as housing purchase restrictions, to enhance migrants' access to the property ladder, promote asset accumulation, and support greater social integration.