The Spatial Pattern and Influencing Factors of the Intercity Real Estate Investment Network in the Yangtze River Delta

Intercity investments of real estate enterprises can spur flows of regional capital, information, talent, and technology, thus serving as a crucial means for optimizing resource allocation, narrowing regional disparities, and guiding the coordinated development of the real estate market. The existing literature has mostly focused on using stock indicators and attribute data to explore the differences in the regional real estate market and the influencing factors. This study attempts to propose new findings of regional real estate markets from the perspectives of 'space of flows' and urban networks. Based on the equity investment data of real estate enterprises, this study constructed an intercity real estate investment network in the Yangtze River Delta for the period 2018–2022 and investigated the spatial and structural characteristics of intercity real estate investments in the region from the dimensions of node hierarchy, flow hierarchy, community pattern, and overall topology. Next, this study explored how urban attribute, intercity dyadic, and endogenous structural factors influence the intercity investment network using exponential random graph models. The results show the following: (1) Shanghai, Hangzhou, and Nanjing rank in the top three in terms of total intercity investment outflows in the Yangtze River Delta, while Hangzhou, Suzhou, and Nanjing have attracted the largest intercity investment inflows, suggesting that the central position of cities presents a certain asymmetry. Hefei plays a prominent intermediary role and is a hub for other cities in the Anhui Province to integrate into the regional real estate market. 2) The communities of the intercity real estate investment network in the Yangtze River Delta are highly coupled with administrative divisions, forming three provincial communities in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Anhui and an inter-provincial radiating community between Shanghai and its neighboring cities of Suzhou, Nantong, and Yancheng. Intercity investment outflows are concentrated, investment inflows are dispersed, and regional real estate capital flows have both core-periphery structures and small-world characteristics. 3) Urbanization and globalization can promote bidirectional intercity investments, that is, investment inflows and outflows, while the degree of localization drives intercity investment inflows. The positive impact of organizational proximity on intercity investments is the most pronounced among the dyadic relationship factors. Endogenous forces are also crucial to intercity real estate investments and are mainly manifested in reciprocity, preferential attachment, and hierarchical transitivity in intercity investment modes.