The Impact of Infectious Disease Incidence on House Price Indices

COVID-19 broke out and had gigantic effects on various economical fields. This study investigates the effect of infectious disease incidence particularly COVID-19 Incidence on the Housing Price Index (HPI) using county-level panel data from the United States between 2020 and 2024. A fixed effects model in R and data sourced from Johns Hopkins University, the Federal Housing Finance Agency, and the U.S. Census Bureau are leveraged to explore how the frequency and intensity of diseases such as COVID-19 influence housing markets. The analysis reveals that economic contraction, policy responses, and shifting social behaviours due to pandemics significantly influence housing prices. It also reveals that this influence performs dramatically differently in regions due to the degree of their poverty. The reason why this phenomenon happens are further discussed, mainly related to regional variations and real estate market strategies for resilience post-outbreak. The findings offer critical insights for policymakers, investors, and consumers navigating housing markets during health crises.