Investigating the macroeconomic determinants of Housing Price Index (HPI) in Malaysia / Luqmanul Hakim Johari ... [et al.]

This research aims at identifying the macroeconomic factors that influence housing prices in Malaysia from 2001 to 2020, consisting of 20 observations. Nowadays, the cost of housing in Malaysia has steadily increased, negatively affecting households. It has generated plenty of issues for the country, especially in its economic development. As a result, this study aims at examining the relationship between the housing price index and macroeconomic variables that influence housing prices. The macroeconomic variables chosen are gross domestic product (GDP), lending rate (LR), inflation rate (IR), and unemployment rate (UR) in Malaysia. The regression analysis method is applied in this study to capture the effect of independent variables. This study concludes that the lending and unemployment rates are significant for the Malaysian housing price index. In contrast, the gross domestic product (GDP) and the inflation rate are not substantial with the housing price index in Malaysia. Although the lending and unemployment rates were significant, these independent variables negatively correlated with the house price index. The findings help the government, investors, policymakers, housing developers, and home buyers understand the influencing factors behind changes in house prices.