On real estate market transparency: The relationship with ICT trade and investment

Abstract

The relationship between information and communication technology (ICT) investment, ICT trade, and real estate market transparency is examined in this paper. National-level bi-annual data from a sample of advanced and emerging market economies for the period 2004–2018 underpins this work. The regression analyses suggest greater levels of capital investment in ICT and ICT trade are associated with increased transparency in the real estate market. The effect is more pronounced in emerging economies than in advanced ones. Real estate market transparency is also higher in contexts having less restrictions on foreign real estate investment, coupled with corruption controls. These findings also align with existing literature inferring that countries with common law traditions are often more transparent than those from civil law origins.