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This paper examines the effects of non-professionals' involvements in real estate service provision on real estate agency practice in Ibadan Nigeria, in order to provide information that could enhance real estate agency practice in the country.

Data were gathered through questionnaire administration on a total sample of 232 respondents comprising 82 estate surveyors and valuers, 100 non-professional estate agents and 25 real estate agency service consumers each from the respective clients of the two groups. A respondent-driven sampling (RDS) technique was adopted for data collection and was particularly useful in accessing non-professionals with characteristically less identifiable organizational structure. Data were analysed using mean scores on a Likert type scale while Spearman rank correlation was used to compare and establish if significant differences exist between the perceptions of clients of professionals and non-professionals on the services provided.

This study revealed that while the involvement of non-professionals in real estate agency practice deprives professionals of opportunities for legitimate earnings and is attributed to incidences of fraudulent transactions in the market, non-professionals often also serve as facilitators of transactions for the professionals. Hence, there seems to be a symbiotic relationship between the two groups and also a tacit validation of the involvement of the former by the latter.

This work contributes to and extends the body of knowledge on non-professionals' involvement in real estate professional practice by providing insights into the effects of activities of individuals who are not members of the real estate profession on real estate agency professional practice, particularly in the context of an emergent and less transparent market.

This paper aims at examining the emergence of the current structure of the real estate agency businesses in Beijing in the age of information technology.

The study utilises the analytical framework developed under the Grounded Theory model by coding the interview results with six major real estate agencies in Beijing.

The model explains the metamorphosis development of a new sector of service agents in the society which itself is undergoing colossal changes in the socio‐economic system. The analysis shows that the impact of information technology does not pose a threat to these agents in Beijing in various circles, but works to increase the competitive advantages inducing more collaboration and market innovations.

The research is limited to the city of Beijing only and generalisation of the conclusion from the analysis needs to be qualified carefully for other cities in China, or even other countries.

The advent of information technology, especially in the last decade has set the momentum for changes in various sectors of our society. However, the impact is not felt evenly on each of these sectors in the society. The service industry is a typical example where a wide spectrum of sub‐sectors exists, ranging from close personal services such as hairdressing to information selling. The degree of impact from the new era of information revolution varies with the nature of each sub‐sector.

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the effect of information and communication technology (ICT) on real estate agency transactions with a view to determine its influence on the performance of estate agents.

A research approach in which questionnaire was administered to elicit relevant information from 220 practicing Estate Surveyors and Valuers surveyed in the course of the study. Data collected were analysed using mean ranking, relative influence index and analysis of variance.

The results showed that the use of ICT impacted positively on real estate agency transactions by promoting company’s brand thereby increasing the level of patronage. Consequently, the increased level of patronage signifies an increase in the level of income of the agents.

The study was limited to social media applications otherwise referred to as ICT, which are used in real estate agency transactions. Further study on other ICT media and their effects on more areas of real estate practice in the developing economy may be required.

This paper is one of the few works on the impact of ICT on real estate agency transactions with particular reference to the social media networking especially in an emerging economy. Most of the previous studies conducted on ICT and real estate focussed only on internet use with respect to real estate agents and practices.

This paper aims to discuss unethical behaviors that small real estate agencies encounter in real estate brokerage practices, the factors that give rise to a trust issue and the potential of legal arrangements for offering a solution. Small real estate agencies, almost the only actor in the real estate brokerage industry until the late twentieth century, still strive to survive despite the globalized market, large corporations increasingly dominating the market, the increasing informality and the real estate portals offering certain brokerage services online. While all these developments put pressure on small real estate agencies, the industry’s unethical behaviors diminish their reliability. Despite the efforts to overcome this issue through legal arrangements, the extent to which these regulations will be successful is still a matter of intense debate.

In total, 85 small real estate agencies operating in Istanbul, Turkey, were posed semi-structured open-ended questions and asked to provide an opinion about the unethical behaviors they face and the potential of a legal arrangement to solve those problems. In the second stage, three focus group interviews were held with representatives from large real estate brokerage companies to make a comparison and they were also posed similar questions. The answers were evaluated using content analysis.

It was found that the unethical behaviors in the real estate industry could mainly be evaluated in two categories, i.e. those stemming from structural problems of the industry and those stemming from problems related to service delivery and that a legal arrangement could only solve the first category.

The research is limited to small real estate agencies that operate in Istanbul, the heart of the Turkish economy and the biggest city of the country where intensive efforts are spent to integrate into the global order.

It is considered that categorization of the causes of problems encountered by the numerous small real estate agencies that struggle to survive in the market and an analysis of the root causes of unethical behaviors in the industry and a discussion on potential solutions that may be brought bylaws will contribute to the literature.

The real estate industry is an important sector of the Singapore economy. Real estate transactions are not only getting larger in numbers in Singapore but also involve increasingly huge sums of money. Unfortunately, some real estate agents have also recently been found guilty of unethical practices in Singapore. Sets out to examine the expectations of ethics in real estate agency practice in Singapore. Surveys real estate agents and their clients on their expectations of ethics in property transactions. Draws conclusions pertaining to ethical expectations from the results of this fieldwork.

Compiled by K.G.B. Bakewell covering the following journals published by MCB University Press: Facilities Volumes 8‐18; Journal of Property Investment & Finance Volumes 8‐18; Property Management Volumes 8‐18; Structural Survey Volumes 8‐18.

Index by subjects, compiled by K.G.B. Bakewell covering the following journals: Facilities Volumes 8‐18; Journal of Property Investment & Finance Volumes 8‐18; Property Management Volumes 8‐18; Structural Survey Volumes 8‐18.

Compiled by K.G.B. Bakewell covering the following journals published by MCB University Press: Facilities Volumes 8‐18; Journal of Property Investment & Finance Volumes 8‐18; Property Management Volumes 8‐18; Structural Survey Volumes 8‐18.

The purpose of this paper is to characterize real estate lease management of the São Paulo City Municipality (PMSP), the largest metropolitan region in Latin America, for the provision of public education, health and social assistance services.

In addition, the management was also evaluated by a direct analysis of the obtained data (lease paid, area of the property, agency, zone, region, neighborhood, contract date, etc.) and by statistical regressions.

The results showed that the following: real estate properties with the greatest discrepancy of amounts paid (when compared to other amounts paid by the city and the market) are in a pulverized category, called “Others”; PMSP faces difficulties tracking expiration dates, 18.9% of the assets are still in use, though present expired contracts; the category “Education” is the most expressive in expenses; there is a limit to the correlation between the size of the real estate and the lease price paid, and very large real estate do not have proportionally higher leases; the location only directly affects the lease value if it is in the central region of the Metropolis. There is no explicit relationship for leases in other regions.

This work is groundbreaking for helping to consolidate the literature on real estate management in developing countries. Factors that integrate and influence the management of real estate leases for government agencies in a Latin American metropolitan area have never before been reported in the literature.

Compiled by K.G.B. Bakewell covering the following journals published by MCB University Press: Facilities Volumes 8‐18; Journal of Property Investment & Finance Volumes 8‐18; Property Management Volumes 8‐18; Structural Survey Volumes 8‐18.