Abstract: When the world economy experiences unpredictable fluctuations, the real estate market is also significantly affected, leading to many risks in this field. Therefore, real estate businesses need to manage and use their capital effectively to avoid negative consequences in production and business activities, especially in dealing with the bankruptcy risk. This paper investigates the impact of debt maturity structure and financial leverage on the bankruptcy risk of 140 real estate enterprises in ASEAN countries in the period 2018-2022. Results indicate that financial leverage and debt maturity structure have a positive impact on the default risk of these real estate companies. Meanwhile, the net working capital to total assets ratio and the absolute liquidity ratio negatively affect companies’ bankruptcy risk. Based on these results, the study proposes several recommendations for real estate businesses and state management agencies in ASEAN to lower bankruptcy risks and improve the operational efficiency of the real estate sector in this region.

Key words: debt maturity structure, financial leverage, bankruptcy risk, real estate

JEL codes: G32, G33, R30