The Impact of Digital Economy Development on Housing Price Fluctuations: An Empirical Analysis Based on Provincial Panel Data in China

In the context of economic structural transformation, examining the impact of the digital economy on housing price fluctuations is particularly important. This study employs a univariate linear regression model and utilizes provincial panel data from the National Bureau of Statistics of China spanning 2014 to 2023 to explore the influence of digital economy development on housing prices. Robustness tests are conducted using both the average sales price of newly built commercial housing and mobile internet access traffic. Furthermore, heterogeneity analyses are performed from the perspectives of different time periods, regions, social types, and real estate categories. It can be concluded from the results that housing prices are positively related to the development of Chinas digital economy; before the 2018 policy shift toward a long-term regulation framework centered on stability, The impact of the digital economy in driving housing prices proved to be more significant.; the promoting effect of the digital economy on housing prices is strongest in eastern regions; the impact of urban digital economy development on housing prices is significantly greater than that in rural areas; residential and newly built commercial housing are most positively influenced by the digital economy. These findings suggest that digital economy development can partially explain fluctuations in Chinese housing prices, primarily due to the 2018 policy shift in the real estate sector and variations across regions, social types, and real estate categories.