A Time Series Analysis to Assess the Relationships among Consumer Sentiment, News Coverage, Housing Markets, and Presidential Approvals

Housing is one of the hottest issues in South Korea. Despite mounting interest in the issue, little is known about a media role in the housing market. This study analyzes the dynamic relationships among consumer sentiment, news coverage, housing markets, and presidential approvals rates. We used monthly time-series big data, including more than 40,000 articles pertaining to housing news coverage and 70,000 home exit prices, and the Granger causality and vector error correction models. The results of this study show that housing consumers negatively respond to related media reporting, i.e., they actively interpret economic news to judge the current market and use it to make decisions on buying and selling homes. The study’s theoretical and practical implications are discussed in detail.