The market reaction of real estate companies to the announcement of the Russian–Ukrainian invasion

Purpose

This study aims to investigate the market reaction in the real estate market to the announcement of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Design/methodology/approach

This study uses the event study method to assess the market reaction to the announcement that Russia is invading Ukraine. The sample in this study comprises 2,325 companies in the real estate market. We also conduct a cross-sectional analysis to determine the influence of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) members and company characteristics on market reactions during the invasion.

Findings

The global market reacts significantly negative toward Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. This indicates that the war poses a high geopolitical risk that prompts financial markets down. The authors also demonstrate that emerging and frontier markets react significantly negative to the invasion before and after its announcement. Meanwhile, developed markets tend to react only before the invasion is announced. Furthermore, we find that the NATO members react more strongly than other markets.

Social implications

This result implies that war prompts investors to flee from the stock exchange, while the deeper the country’s involvement, the more investors worry about the risks.

Originality/value

This study is the first to discuss the market reaction to the Russian invasion of Ukrainian, specifically in the real estate market.