Decomposing the Cerberus: A Multilevel Analysis of How Commodification, Financialization, and Rentierism Shape Housing Precariousness in Spain

The “housing question” has reemerged across Europe and the United States, as neoliberal reforms have expanded the influence of what we refer to as a three-headed “Cerberus” of housing trends: commodification, financialization, and rentierism. Using Spain as a case study, this article examines the associations between these macrostructural dynamics and household-level precariousness across tenure types. Using data from the European Union Survey on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC, 2007–2019), we carry out multilevel regression modeling with a within-between specification. Across regions, higher levels of commodification and financialization are consistently correlated with increased unaffordability and housing insecurity, particularly among mortgage holders and market-rate tenants. Rentierism shows a similar positive association with precariousness for market-rate tenants, primarily via unaffordability, while being negatively associated with precariousness among outright homeowners. Although our research design limits causal interpretation, the results suggest robust and tenure-differentiated patterns linking the “Cerberus” with uneven exposure to various dimensions of housing precariousness.