Search results

While the development of real estate derivative contracts has important implications for real estate as an asset class, it has not been widely accepted in Asia. This paper aims to examine the issues involved in developing the real estate derivative market for Singapore.

The concept of real estate derivatives is reviewed. The limitations to the extant real estate index are discussed. Different approaches to constructing real estate indices are discussed in particular reference to the features of the Singapore real estate market.

The Singapore residential market is dominated by public housing, heterogeneity and relatively low turnover. The applicability of repeat sales approach may not be well suited. Geostatistical models appear promising. The commercial real estate market suffers from even lower turnover. The most appropriate commercial real estate index could be similar to that offered by IPD. Several issues were also highlighted. First, the index must pass the stringent scrutiny of academia and experts. Second, the index must be well understood and accepted by the industry. Third, the index must be published in a timely fashion and without biases. Fourth, there must be a trustworthy producer of the index.

For an index to be accepted, it must satisfy the issue of fungibility. International investors looking for exposure or hedging strategies are likely to be familiar with established methodologies such as the repeat sales and appraisal‐based approaches.

Market acceptability of RED. If the experience in Europe is anything to go by, this is not an insurmountable issue that cannot be addressed with education and knowledge dissemination.

While real estate derivatives have immense potential and a tremendous growth in its development in Europe has been witnessed, it is clear that the real estate derivative industry is in its infancy. The paper examines the issues peculiar to Singapore with regard to the establishment of real estate derivative contracts. The paper is of interest to policy makers and industry practitioners.

The home is a substantial investment for most individual investors but the assessment of risk and return of residential real estate has not been well explored yet. The existing real estate pricing literature using a CAPM-based model generally suggests very low risk and unexplained excess returns. However, many academics suggest the residential real estate market is unique and standard asset pricing models may not fully capture the risk associated with the housing market. The purpose of this paper is to extend the asset pricing literature on residential real estate by providing improved CAPM estimates of risk and required return.

The improvements include the use of a levered β which captures the leverage risk and Lin and Vandell (2007) Time on Market risk premium which captures the additional liquidity risk of residential real estate.

In addition to presenting palatable risk and return estimates for a national real estate index, the results of this paper suggest the risk and return characteristics of multiple cities tracked by the Case Shiller Home Price Index are distinct.

The results show higher estimates of risk and required return levels than previous research, which is more consistent with the academic expectation that housing performs between stocks and bonds. In contrast to most previous studies, the authors find residential real estate underperforms based on risk, using standard financial models.

Real estate is an inherently inflexible asset, yet corporate real estate managers increasingly need to find ways in which flexibility can be achieved. Shorter planning horizons, increasing corporate experimentation and growth through mergers and acquisition are but a few of the influences which have led to the need for more flexible resources. One way in which corporate real estate managers can gain a greater insight into the problem is by recognising that real estate is often considered from a variety of perspectives: as a physical, functional and financial asset. Each of these perspectives leads to a different source of flexibility. As a physical asset, corporate real estate managers are concerned with aspects of design, including floorplate sizes, column placement and building services. As a functional asset, corporate real estate managers consider what activities can actually be undertaken inside a building. As a financial asset, corporate real estate managers examine the terms of contracts and the ability (and cost) to terminate those obligations. Each of these types of flexibility is required, but at different times and for different purposes within the life cycle of an organisation. Possibly the most appropriate way to look at the issue is on a portfolio‐wide basis, considering what are an organisation’s core and periphery real estate requirements. This approach requires a different type of examination of the assets but can provide a corporate real estate manager with a firm base for working towards the elusive goal of flexible real estate.

With the Journal of Property Investment and Finance (JPIF) being 40 years old, this paper reflects on the changes in real estate research over the last 40 years, the drivers behind these changes and how JPIF has evolved over these 40 years to retain its position as a leading real estate research journal. Challenges and opportunities are also identified for the next generation of real estate researchers to continue to develop the real estate research agenda.

This paper is presented as a reflective article, drawing on a deep personal understanding of real estate research, how it has evolved over the last 40 years, key drivers of these changes and the challenges going forward.

Fundamental changes in real estate research over the last 40 years and drivers behind these changes are articulated. A pathway forward for real estate research is identified, as well as how JPIF fits into the mix.

With real estate research being increasingly important in real estate academics' careers, this article provides a practical roadmap for how real estate research has changed, why it has changed and future opportunities for the next generation of real estate researchers.

This is the first paper to reflect on these key changes and drivers behind these changes in real estate research, as well as the opportunities for the next generation of real estate researchers.

Annual real estate taxes are one of the largest and fastest‐growing occupancy costs for corporations owning or leasing real estate in the United States. An active programme of management, control and reduction of annual real estate tax assessments can be successful, if a corporation is proactive and follows certain steps on a timely basis.

Despite improvements in certain countries in recent years, the provision of performance information on the direct real estate market still suffers from a lack of timeliness and reliability. The latter problem is particularly an issue for higher‐frequency data provision. This paper investigates whether there is information from the indirect market that might be useful in helping us understand better the direct real estate market. Direct real estate indices do not measure the performance of underlying transactions prices properly because they are based on valuations – and therefore may be subject to valuation smoothing. Indirect real estate indices do not properly measure the value investors put on the underlying assets of real estate companies because real estate companies are geared. Compares appropriately adjusted indices, and shows that there is information in indirect index returns that can usefully help us understand the performance of the direct market and an index is produced of de‐geared monthly real estate share returns for the UK.

In recent years, housing prices and rents have recorded impressive growth in Iran. Several observers believe that real estate agents have had a significant effect on this phenomenon. However, some do not agree with this viewpoint and argue that the role of real estate agents is not that much and housing prices and rents are affected by macroeconomic factors. The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether real estate agents can influence housing prices and rents across provinces of Iran.

Applying panel data technique, this paper uses observations from 28 provinces of Iran covering 2000 and 2003 to examine the role of real estate agents on housing prices and rents.

The empirical results indicate that the increased number of real estate agents and their activities positively significantly stimulate housing prices and rents.

To the author's knowledge, most studies in this area cover the US and European real estate markets. Since findings for developed countries might not be directly transferable to emerging market economies such as Iran, more work is necessary to obtain a clearer picture of the role of real estate agents on housing prices and rents in emerging economies.

Although there has been a series of cross‐sectional studies published in this area, few empirical works have examined the effects of real estate agents on housing prices and rents by applying panel data set. The paper begins to fill this gap by analyzing a data sample of 28 provinces of Iran covering 2000 and 2003.

The Asian real estate markets have grown considerably in recent years and have taken on increased investment importance, particularly with significant developments in the emerging markets in Asia. This paper assesses the opportunities for more research on the Asian real estate markets, by highlighting the significance of Asia real estate, the drivers behind this growth and the unique opportunities this presents for high-quality real estate research, by both local researchers and their international colleagues. Strategies for delivering this research agenda are also identified.

This research is based on a thorough understanding of the Asian real estate markets, based on my own research agenda, personal interactions, insights and extensive discussions with real estate leaders in the Asian markets. This is supported by a clear understanding of the real estate research opportunities in the Asian markets and the strategies needed to deliver this research agenda in an effective manner.

A range of real estate research areas are identified to increase the level of Asian real estate research. This sees research opportunities around key areas such as market dynamics, real estate investment vehicles, alternate real estate sectors, infrastructure and sustainability. Strategies for expanding this level of research for both local and international real estate researchers are also identified.

With the Asian real estate markets taking on more importance with many international real estate investors, it is important to see more high-quality research into these dynamic real estate markets. This research will see a fuller understanding of these Asian real estate markets to enable more informed real estate investment decision-making.

The need for more high-quality research into the Asian real estate markets is clearly presented, with enabling strategies to achieve this agenda identified. This will see expanded research opportunities to critically research these unique real estate markets and produce high-quality research publications.

Tests the inflation‐hedging ability of Swiss real estate over the 1943‐1991 period and, for comparison purposes, that of stocks. Results show that in the long run real estate seems to provide a better hedge against inflation than common stocks. When the inflation rate is broken down into its expected and unexpected components, all coefficients are negative for stocks, whereas some coefficients are positive for real estate. This is particularly true for unexpected inflation. These results are interesting in that the proxy used for real estate (i.e. data pertaining to real estate mutual funds) should be a much better indicator of changes in the underlying real estate than indices which have been used so far. Moreover, the data exists for a very long time period, which makes it possible to test the long‐term ability of real estate to hedge against changes in the purchasing power.

The purpose of this research paper is to provide corporate real estate executives with a measurement tool for pinpointing and enhancing the contribution of corporate real estate to corporate strategy.

A measurement tool is designed by adopting a theoretical framework in which seven added values of real estate are aligned with nine corporate strategic driving forces. The practical applicability of this tool is validated by assessing the contribution of corporate real estate to corporate strategy at 14 Dutch‐based global corporations.

Many corporations still lack sufficient insight into the impact of corporate real estate decisions on corporate performance. Therefore, it is difficult for senior management and other stakeholders to grasp the actual contribution of corporate real estate.

Future research may be conducted to investigate the exhaustiveness of the listed real estate issues. Moreover, the linkage between the added values and the strategic driving forces could be validated further in practice.

The measurement tool supports corporate real estate executives in aligning corporate real estate with corporate strategy. Thereby it contributes to the further recognition of the importance of real estate in a corporate setting.

Prior papers on the contribution of corporate real estate to corporate strategy have primarily been focused on either pinpointing various driving forces or linking specific property decisions to corporate strategy. This paper, however, unveils the linkage between fundamental drivers of corporate real estate and corporate strategy in a comprehensive management tool for portfolio analysis and strategy formulation.