infonet-economy

We examine the relationship between online real estate searches by investors and the future returns of publicly traded real estate stocks in India. We find evidence that the relevant online search volume indices are significantly related to the future movements in real estate stock returns. However, the association between online searches and stock returns diminishes quickly. The findings suggest that the significance of the online searches is driven by the online investor’s attention to real estate stocks rather than the searches’ representativeness of the fundamental shifts in the market.