Real Estate Markets and Financial Intermediation: Policy Shocks, Micro Responses, and Economic Consequences

A special issue of International Journal of Financial Studies (ISSN 2227-7072).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 15 February 2027 | Viewed by 221

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Business School, Central University of Finance and Economics, Beijing 100081, China
Interests: corporate finance; real estate economy; information disclosure of listed companies

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Over the past two decades, real estate markets have played a central role in shaping macroeconomic fluctuations, financial stability, and resource allocation in China and many other economies. As a key sector linking households, firms, financial institutions, and local governments, the real estate market has become deeply intertwined with credit expansion, asset pricing, investment behavior, and regional development. In particular, under China’s institutional setting, real estate dynamics are closely connected to financial intermediation through mortgage lending, corporate financing, collateral values, land finance, and banking risk exposure. As a result, changes in real estate conditions often extend far beyond the property sector itself, generating broad economic consequences across the financial system and the real economy.

In recent years, the real estate sector has entered a period of structural adjustment, accompanied by intensified policy interventions and heightened concerns over financial vulnerabilities. A range of macroprudential measures, credit policies, housing regulations, and local policy responses have altered the incentives and constraints faced by banks, firms, households, and entrepreneurs. These policy shocks not only affect housing prices and real estate investment, but also influence bank lending behavior, firm financing conditions, entrepreneurial activity, corporate investment decisions, and risk transmission across sectors. Against this background, understanding the interaction between real estate markets and financial intermediation has become increasingly important for both academic research and policy design.

This Special Issue aims to advance research on how real estate market fluctuations and policy shocks affect financial intermediation, micro-level behavior, and broader economic outcomes. It seeks to provide a deeper understanding of the channels through which real estate dynamics influence banking systems, corporate decisions, entrepreneurial ecosystems, and regional economic activity, as well as how financial institutions and policy frameworks shape the transmission and consequences of real estate shocks. By bringing together perspectives from real estate economics, finance, banking, corporate behavior, and entrepreneurship, this Special Issue intends to offer new evidence and fresh insights into the evolving relationship between real estate markets and the financial sector.

In this Special Issue, original research articles and review papers are welcome. Potential research topics include, but are not limited to, the following areas:

  • Real estate policies and their economic consequences;
  • Interactions between real estate markets and banking systems;
  • Real estate shocks and entrepreneurial activity;
  • Real estate cycles and corporate investment behavior;
  • Real estate market fluctuations and bank lending behavior;
  • Housing prices, collateral channels, and firm financing;
  • Real estate downturns and financial stability;
  • Macroprudential regulation and housing market dynamics;
  • Corporate real estate investment and financialization;
  • Real estate risks, credit allocation, and regional economic development;
  • Policy shocks, micro responses, and transmission mechanisms in real estate markets;

Future trends in real estate finance and financial intermediation.

Dr. Guangli Zhang
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • real estate markets
  • financial intermediation
  • policy shocks
  • banking systems
  • corporate investment
  • entrepreneurial activity
  • housing market
  • macroprudential policy
  • credit allocation
  • economic consequences

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

20 pages, 867 KB  
Article
Macroeconomic Drivers of House Price Cycles in the EU: Are They Synchronized Across Member States?
by Vytautas Snieska, Daiva Burksaitiene and Valentinas Navickas
Int. J. Financial Stud. 2026, 14(6), 164; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijfs14060164 - 12 Jun 2026
Abstract
This paper examines the drivers of house price cycles across EU countries between 2005 and 2024 and measures their synchronicity. We used panel data methods—fixed effects, dynamic panel models (Arellano–Bond GMM), and a pooled VAR framework—to capture static and dynamic relationships between house [...] Read more.
This paper examines the drivers of house price cycles across EU countries between 2005 and 2024 and measures their synchronicity. We used panel data methods—fixed effects, dynamic panel models (Arellano–Bond GMM), and a pooled VAR framework—to capture static and dynamic relationships between house price growth and key macroeconomic variables. The results show that the dynamics of house prices are highly persistent. GDP growth has a clear positive effect, while higher unemployment and interest rates push prices down. Migration flows, however, are not statistically significant at the EU aggregate level. Property taxation shows a positive coefficient, which probably reflects structural and institutional differences rather than a direct dampening effect on prices. Dynamic analysis suggests that macroeconomic shocks have persistent and economically meaningful impacts on house price growth. Hierarchical cluster analysis revealed three distinct groups of countries, meaning that house price cycles are only partially synchronized across the EU. Unlike previous studies that typically examine individual determinants or synchronization separately, this study integrates panel econometric methods, dynamic VAR analysis, and hierarchical clustering within a unified framework to jointly assess macroeconomic drivers, dynamic interactions, and structural heterogeneity of house price cycles across EU countries. In general, common macroeconomic drivers and structural heterogeneity coexist—this is important for the stability of the housing market and sustainable development. Full article
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