Text Analysis of Policies in the Real Estate Market: Comparisons of 21 Chinese Cities

Real estate plays a pivotal role in fostering national economic growth and ensuring social stability. In China, housing constitutes the largest fixed asset for the majority of households. Given the extensive network of upstream and downstream industries associated with real estate, the government places significant emphasis on its regulation and development, employing a variety of policy instruments to maintain market stability. This study adopts a quantitative approach to conduct a text analysis of China’s real estate policies through the lens of knowledge mapping and LDA topic modeling, while also comparing policy content across 21 different cities. The findings indicate that real estate policy in China transcends mere market regulation. It also encompasses governance within the construction industry as well as provisions for housing security. Furthermore, due to the diverse roles that real estate plays in economic development and urban construction, there is notable regional heterogeneity in policy priorities. By text analysis of real estate policies, this study provides a systematic overview of policy content, thereby laying a foundation for more nuanced and regionally differentiated research within the realm of real estate policy.