Does public concern about climate change affect real estate market behaviour?

Climate change introduces great uncertainty into the global real estate market. Existing studies mainly focus on the response of property prices to physical environmental changes, particularly the direct impact of extreme climate events on property values. This study innovatively quantifies public concern about climate change by introducing the novel concept of the Public Climate Change Concern Index (PCCCI). We then link this index to key indicators of the housing market, analysing how public concern about climate change influences the local housing market. Through a case study of Zhengzhou's housing market in China, we explore how public concern about climate change influences property transactions. It discloses that public climate change concern largely impacts transaction volumes, transaction areas and transaction prices of the housing market, highlighting how climate change exacerbates market uncertainty. Consequently, we advocate incorporating public climate change concern as a necessary variable in real estate market analysis to better understand and address the impacts of climate change on this sector. This new research perspective not only enriches the study of real estate markets but also provides novel theoretical and empirical foundations for policy-making and market forecasting.