House prices and tourism development in Cyprus: A contemporary perspective


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Alola A. A., Asongu S. A., Alola U. V.

Journal of Public Affairs, vol.20, no.2, 2020 (ESCI) identifier

  • Publication Type: Article / Article
  • Volume: 20 Issue: 2
  • Publication Date: 2020
  • Doi Number: 10.1002/pa.2035
  • Journal Name: Journal of Public Affairs
  • Journal Indexes: Emerging Sources Citation Index (ESCI), Scopus, Academic Search Premier, IBZ Online, International Bibliography of Social Sciences, ABI/INFORM, Business Source Elite, Business Source Premier, Communication & Mass Media Index, PAIS International, Political Science Complete, Public Affairs Index, Sociological abstracts
  • Istanbul Gelisim University Affiliated: Yes

Abstract

© 2019 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.This study investigates the nexus between tourism development and house prices in the Republic of Cyprus over the period spanning from 2005Q1 to 2016Q4. Tourism indicators vis-à-vis tourism arrivals along with other explanatory variables (the domestic credit, the land area per person, and the consumer price index) are employed in a multivariate autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL)-bound test model. The empirical results indicate a significant evidence of cointegration. Indicatively, an observed adjustment of about 44% from short-run to long-run implies that the model is not relatively slow to adjust to disequilibrium. Importantly, a percent increase in tourism arrivals is observed to cause a rise in house price by about 37%. Expectedly, it is statistically observed that as the land area per person decreases, it is accompanied by a hike in house price. Also, the impacts of domestic credit offered to private enterprises and the consumer price index are different from the results in previous studies. As a policy guide, the government of Cyprus and stakeholder in the tourism and housing sectors should outline a strategy that will ensure the social welfare of people such that housing availability is not hampered by tourism activities.