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AUTHOR: Hera Antoniades TITLE: Gst Perspectives And Real Property |Refereed| KEYWORDS: "GST, real property, commercial, residential" ABSTRACT: "The real property industry in Australia is one that intersects the boundaries of many aspects of taxation. The Goods and Services Tax (GST), is a broad based tax of 10% which applies to goods and services supplied and expended, including real property transactions such as commercial and residential property. The complexity of GST for real property is highlighted with the varying treatment of commercial and residential sales and rental. The sale of a commercial property is classified as either a taxable supply or a GST free supply; whilst the commercial rent is considered a taxable supply only. However, residential property sales and residential rent is generally considered an input taxed supply unless the property is sold as new residential where the application would be a taxable supply. Vacant land can fall into all three classifications of taxable supply, input taxed supply and GST-free supply. Farmland can generally be considered a GST-free supply but there are some exemptions which might require the treatment to be a taxable supply. Therefore, this research paper examines a number of interrelated areas concerning GST legislation for real property and critiques the application of GST to stakeholders in commercial and residential buildings. It is argued that GST can influence the price of real property and questions the validity of sales data available to valuers for the purpose of preparing valuation reports." View the Full Paper AUTHOR: Sandy Bond TITLE: Assessing Nz Householders’ Energy Use Behaviours: A Pilot Survey |Refereed| KEYWORDS: Sustainability – Energy efficiency –Greenhouse gas emissions - Homestar rating tool ABSTRACT: "In NZ, the government has developed the New Zealand Energy Strategy (NZES) to respond to the challenges of climate change and provide strategic directions for energy use in NZ. One of the target areas is “Energywise Homes” that provides a number of financial and other incentives for consumers to make them homes dryer and more energy efficient. Industry too, has been pro-active. For example, the Homestar™ Rating Tool, a new free online rating tool, was introduced in November 2010 through a joint venture between the NZ Green Building Council, BRANZ and Beacon Pathways to allow home owners to assess their home’s performance in comfort, health and energy-efficiency. This paper outlines the results of research carried out in NZ in 2011. Two parallel pilot surveys were conducted of various participants in the housing sector who are members of the Green Building Council of NZ. The full-scale survey of 4000 householders is underway, but the results are not yet available to report here. The broad aims of the research are to (i) examine the lifestyle choices of householders in relation to the homes that they live in, together with the motives behind these choices; (ii) identify and explain user behaviour in residential buildings in relation to the energy consumed, and (iii) evaluate the success of the Homestar™ rating tool in empowering householders to make their homes healthier and more energy efficient. The results from these pilot surveys help to identify where behavioural change is needed, and the methods to aid communication of sustainability measures that encourage behavior change, and increase the uptake of sustainability practices in homes that reduce greenhouse gas emissions from residential buildings." View the Full Paper AUTHOR: Steven Boyd TITLE: Functional Learning For Property Students |Refereed| KEYWORDS: "Functional knowledge, declarative knowledge, property education, learning outcomes, assessment, teaching methods." ABSTRACT: "Through fundamental changes in structure and financing the education services industry has recently grown to be one of Australia’s largest exports, with new more diverse student cohorts entering higher education each year. This presents opportunities for astute university and program leaders to refine the education offering and look to innovative means to constructively align intended learning outcomes, functional teaching/learning activities, and formative assessment. In contrast, property discipline leaders in Australian universities have traditionally been slow to adopt new teaching practices. This is evidenced by little change in the delivery and assessment of property knowledge over the past decade with lecturing, note taking and examinations being the core of many programs. As student numbers increase, this traditional delivery method is at risk of becoming passive with student grading optimised through inductive memorisation rather than participatory learning or actually reaching the prescribed learning outcomes. This paper investigates the declarative (university) and functional (professional) nature of the knowledge taught, and the teaching methods adopted, in property programs at Australian universities. Specifically the research reviews course outlines noting trends in intended learning outcomes and graduate attributes, teaching delivery methods, and assessment items. Recommendations include the promotion of innovative learning activities that lecturers and tutors may adopt to enhance the learning environment for university students studying property." View the Full Paper AUTHOR: L. E. Bryant And A. C. Eves TITLE: Infrastructure Charges And Increases To New House Prices: A Preliminary Analysis Of The Us Empirical Models |Refereed| KEYWORDS: "Housing Affordability, infrastructure charges, impact fees, house prices, growth management" ABSTRACT: "Sourcing appropriate funding for the provision of new urban infrastructure has been a policy dilemma for governments around the world for decades. This is particularly relevant in high growth areas where new services are required to support swelling populations. The Australian infrastructure funding policy dilemmas are reflective of similar matters in many countries, particularly the United States of America, where infrastructure cost recovery policies have been in place since the 1970’s. There is an extensive body of both theoretical and empirical literature from these countries that discusses the passing on (to home buyers) of these infrastructure charges, and the corresponding impact on housing prices. The theoretical evidence is consistent in its findings that infrastructure charges are passed on to home buyers by way of higher house prices. The empirical evidence is also consistent in its findings, with “overshifting” of these charges evident in all models since the 1980’s, i.e. $1 infrastructure charge results in greater than $1 increase in house prices. However, despite over a dozen separate studies over two decades in the US on this topic, no empirical works have been carried out in Australia to test if similar shifting or overshifting occurs here. The purpose of this research is to conduct a preliminary analysis of the more recent models used in these US empirical studies in order to identify the key study area selection criteria and success factors. The paper concludes that many of the study area selection criteria are implicit rather than explicit. By collecting data across the models, some implicit criteria become apparent, whilst others remain elusive. This data will inform future research on whether an existing model can be adopted or adapted for use in Australia." View the Full Paper AUTHOR: Chai Ning And Oh Dong Hoon TITLE: Case Studies Of The Effects Of Speculation On Real Estate Price Bubble Forming: Beijing And Shanghai (2001-2010) |Refereed| KEYWORDS: Real Estate Bubble; Speculation; Housing Price; Real Estate Market ABSTRACT: "From the angle of economic development, a certain degree of real estate bubble is beneficial to the overall real estate market. However, if the bubble inflates too fast and even goes out of control, a serious economic crisis will take place after the bubble deflates. The rare land, the expansion of real estate speculation and the excess lending are conceived as the main reasons that bring about a real estate bubble. Real estate speculation will bring treat to the sustainable, stable and balanced development of real estate market. This paper aims at analysing the effects of speculation on real estate price bubble forming in Beijing and Shanghai real estate market in accordance with the statistical data (2001~2010).By respectively examining the speculation levels and bubble levels of the real estate markets in two cities, the study finds that the degree of real estate bubble in Beijing is higher than that in Shanghai and the bubble has an overall expansion tendency; the speculation level in Shanghai is higher than that in Beijing, but they are thought to be not serious, what’s more, Beijing has the stronger effect of the speculation on housing bubble forming than that of Shanghai. At last, the study suggests that the government should make efforts to curb the real estate speculation for a healthy and stable real estate market." View the Full Paper AUTHOR: Ian Clarkson TITLE: Will A Carbon Price Change Private Farm Forestry In Australia? |Refereed| KEYWORDS: "Rural, Valuation, Climate Change, Carbon Credit" ABSTRACT: "Rural industries are not yet included in the proposed Australian federal government Carbon Tax. During the interim before the Emissions Trading Scheme is introduced, farms have an opportunity to either earn money through selling Carbon Credits or at least reduce the impact an ETS will have on their on-going farm costs when it is introduced. This exploratory paper looks at the proposed Carbon Tax and how a farm may generate income from this proposal.Information has been sourced from Government bodies; industry interest groups; and interviews with peak body representatives. The paper seeks to provide farmers with a framework to explore the viability of Carbon Sinks on their enterprise by exploring a case study of a grazing property in South-east Queensland." View the Full Paper AUTHOR: Neil Coffee And Tony Lockwood TITLE: The Property Wealth Metric As A Measure Of Socio-Economic Status |Refereed| KEYWORDS: ABSTRACT: "Neighbourhood socio-economic status (SES) is linked with poor health outcomes(Auchincloss et al., 2007; Adams et al., 2009; Chichlowska et al., 2009; Kavanagh et al., 2010; Williams et al., 2010). One of the more common Australian data sources for analysing social disadvantage is the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) Socio-Economic Indicators for Areas (SEIFA) index of Advantage\Disadvantage (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2006). As SEIFA is aggregated to predetermined spatial units the index masks variation and impacts on epidemiological studies at the local level. This research investigated the potential to use the South Australian Fiscal Cadastre as a surrogate socio economic indicator in the investigation of community health at the property level to supplement the more traditionally used SEIFA index. A Relative Location Factor metric (RLF) is developed by comparing the relative locational merit of each property to the global average for the study area and comparing this with the 2006 SEIFA index of disadvantage-advantage. This paper presents the results from this first step. Further research will examine the relationship between RLF, health survey data, the underlying census socio-economic characteristics and SEIFA." View the Full Paper AUTHOR: Greg Costello TITLE: "Building Age, Depreciation And Real Option Value - An Australian Case Study" |Refereed| KEYWORDS: ABSTRACT: "This paper examines the influence of building age as a measure of depreciation and real option (redevelopment) value within a large Australian housing market. A number of authors have proposed that building age used as an independent variable in hedonic analysis of housing markets can proxy for other omitted variables. Recent research suggests that depreciation of structures, location influences and real option potential are all measured implicitly with building age if hedonic models are not correctly specified so as to effectively identify and isolate the influence of these factors. The influence of building age in identifying and measuring the option value of redevelopment potential is tested empirically in a large Australian housing market (Perth, Western Australia). Specific housing submarkets are identified as having significant variance in building age of the housing stock. Transactions from these submarkets over the sample period 1995-2010 are analysed within several hedonic models to test these influences. Consistent with recent similar research in this area, an ""intensity"" variable is used. This variable is constructed from the ratio of building areas from sales of existing properties to building areas from sales of “new” construction within the same submarkets. The preliminary results confirm this variable as providing robust characteristics in identifying and measuring these influences." View the Full Paper AUTHOR: Greg Costello, Chris Leishman, Steven Rowley And Craig Watkins TITLE: The Predictive Performance Of Multi-Level Models Of Housing Submarkets: A Comparative Analysis |Refereed| KEYWORDS: "Housing economics, hedonic models, multi-level models, submarkets, prediction accuracy" ABSTRACT: "Much of the housing submarket literature has focused on establishing methods that allow the partitioning of data into distinct market segments. This paper seeks to move the focus on to the question of how best to model submarkets once they have been identified. It focuses on evaluating effectiveness of multi-level models as a technique for modelling submarkets. The paper uses data on housing transactions from Perth, Western Australia, to develop and compare three competing submarket modelling strategies. Model one consists of a citywide ""benchmark"", model two provides a series of submarket-specific hedonic estimates (this is the ‘industry standard’) and models three and four provide two variants on the multi-level model (differentiated by variation in the degrees of spatial granularity embedded in the model structure). The results suggest that greater granularity enhances performance, although improvements in predictive accuracy will not necessarily offer compelling grounds for the adoption of the multi-level approach." View the Full Paper AUTHOR: Lucy Cradduck And Andrea Blake TITLE: The Impact Of Tenure Type On The Desire For Retirement Village Living |Refereed| KEYWORDS: "Retirement Village, Land tenure, freehold, leasehold, license" ABSTRACT: "In 2005 17.3% of Australians were aged 60 years and older (Australian Bureau of Statistics). A consequence of this aging population is the increased use of self-contained independent living units (SCILU) in Retirement Villages by older Australians. The retirement village sector has thus become a significant sector within the residential property market. In seeking to determine the impact of tenure type on the desirability of RV living this paper first profiles a typical SCILU in Australia, before explaining and examining the various tenure types offered by the market. This paper concludes that the multiplicity of offerings of the SCILU product with respect to tenure type, when combined with deferred management fees and participation in capital gains/losses, may be contributing to a lack of clarity in what the SCILU product entails and the security of investment it offers. This perception is supported by litigated disputes and may be damaging the reputation, ongoing viability and desirability of SCILUs." View the Full Paper AUTHOR: Lucy Cradduck TITLE: Place And Space: Community In The Internet Economy And What This Will Mean For Property |Refereed| KEYWORDS: "NBN, high speed broadband, internet, internet economy, community" ABSTRACT: "By 2020 Australia_s National Digital Economy Strategy aims to increase household online participation and engage 12 per cent of all employees in teleworking arrangements. Achieving these goals is generally perceived as positive due to the reduced impact on the natural environment from less use of transport. However, this also will enable greater flexibility as to where people live and thus will impact upon the maintenance and formation of communities and on property use. This paper commences by clarifying what is Australia_s internet economy before highlighting the impact of the internet on community formation and maintenance. The paper concludes by identifying what the achievement of these goals will mean for property use in the future." View the Full Paper AUTHOR: T. K Egbelaki, S. Wilkinson And P.B.Nahkies TITLE: Impacts Of The Property Market On Seismic Retrofit Decisions |Refereed| KEYWORDS: "Earthquake Prone Buildings (EPBs), Seismic retrofit decisions" ABSTRACT: "Recent damaging earthquakes have shown that strengthening of buildings susceptible to seismic risks is one of the key issues in hazard and disaster management field. Using the property market to create value for seismic safety has been suggested in literature as a motivator to improve the implementation of adequate seismic mitigation measures. The purpose of research in this paper is to investigate how property investment can be used to create value for earthquake risks, in order to encourage seismic retrofit implementation of EPBs. A case study methodology was used to understand the impacts of the property market stakeholders’ practices on seismic retrofit decisions. Findings provide important new insights on how property market-based incentives and investment practices can be used to promote the adoption of adequate risk mitigation measures. The findings suggest the need for stakeholders involved in property investment and retrofit decisions to work together to foster seismic rehabilitation of EPBs. Market-based incentives such as mandatory disclosure of seismic risks and insurance premium discounts for retrofitted EPBs can offer compelling reasons for the different property market stakeholders and the public at large to retain, care, invest, and act responsibly to rehabilitate EPBs." View the Full Paper AUTHOR: Chris Eves TITLE: An Analysis Of Nsw Rural Property Market: 1990-2010 |Refereed| KEYWORDS: "rural property, rural land values, investment performance, capital returns, total returns." ABSTRACT: "Rural property in Australia has seen significant market resurgence over the past 3 years, with improved seasonal conditions in a number of states, improved commodity prices and a greater interest and purchase of rural land by major international corporations and investment institutions. Much of this change in perspective in relation to rural property as an asset class can be linked to the food shortage of 2007 and the subsequent interest by many countries in respect to food security. This paper will address the total and capital return performance of a major agricultural area and compare these returns on the basis of both location of land and land use. The comparison will be used to determine if location or actual land use has a greater influence on rural property capital and income returns. This performance analysis is based on over 40,000 rural sales transactions. These transactions cover all market based rural property transactions in New South Wales, Australia for the period January 1990 to December 2010. Correlation analysis and investment performance analysis has also been carried out to determine the possible relationships between location and land use and subsequent changes in rural land capital values." View the Full Paper AUTHOR: Xin Janet Ge, Heather Macdonald, And Sumita Ghosh TITLE: Assessing The Impact Of Rail Investment On Housing Prices In North-West Sydney |Refereed| KEYWORDS: "Hedonic analysis, housing prices, transportation investments" ABSTRACT: "Rail investments alter the accessibility and amenity of residential properties, and thus affect housing prices and overall affordability. This project investigates the impact of the Epping-Chatswood rail link in North-west Sydney on home prices, testing out alternative methodologies for estimating price impacts through spatial analysis of historical property sales data obtained from the RP Data Australia. The paper focuses on one station, comparing price trends before and after the construction of the rail link was announced in 2002, and before and after the opening of the rail line in early 2009. The paper concludes with an assessment of the usefulness of alternative methodologies." View the Full Paper AUTHOR: Xin Janet Ge, Grace Ding And Peter Phillips TITLE: Sustainable Housing – A Case Study Of Heritage Building In Hangzhou China |Refereed| KEYWORDS: "Historic housing protection, building performance, sustainability, thermal comfort, Hangzhoug, China" ABSTRACT: "Surrounded by high-rise buildings, some two-storey buildings with black roofs are sited along the Xiaohe (Little River) in the north of Hangzhou, China. The buildings were originally built in the late Qing Dynasty (late 19th century) and restored in 2007 by the Hangzhou municipal government. The architectural materials used in the buildings are mainly concrete for the ground floor and timber to the first floor. Three buildings located at Xiaohe Historical Street were investigated to establish whether traditional buildings performed as well as modern buildings. Hourly temperature and humidity readings from September 2009 to August 2010 were recorded for the selected houses. It was concluded through comparisons that the restored heritage buildings provided similar thermal comfort and conditions to modern buildings." View the Full Paper AUTHOR: Eckhart Hetrzsch And Christopher Heywood TITLE: Climatic Influence On Life-Cycle Investing For Sustainable Refurbishments In Australia |Refereed| KEYWORDS: "Asset Management, Climate, Life-cycle investing, Refurbishment, Sustainability," ABSTRACT: "International research indicates that reductions in greenhouse gas emissions are necessary to mitigate climate change. Australia, in particular, has an urgent need to do so, as it’s per capita emissions are among the highest in the world. Building owners facing investment decisions are ill-equipped with information as to the technical necessities that upgrade their particular building to achieve deep emission cuts and the financial impact the decisions have on the net present value and internal rate of return investment criteria. Previous studies lack specificity and provide ‘only’ generic figures for upgrade costs and do not take into account differences in buildings with regard to their attributes and locations. This research investigates methods to provide greater precision for sustainable refurbishments and their optimal timing. An office building in Melbourne was used to develop sets of improvements using an integrated approach to upgrade mechanical services and the building envelope. Using asset management trigger points the impact on net present value and internal rate of return were calculated, taking into account the capital expenditure required, the energy savings due to the refurbishment, as well as a possible rental increase due to the upgrade and lesser operational energy bills for the tenants. To investigate the importance of the location attribute the upgraded building was modelled in a different climate by using a Brisbane weather file. This research clearly indicates the importance of a refined method for sustainable upgrades taking into consideration building attributes and location as well as the lifecycle approach and timing of asset management decisions. The results show the usefulness of the applied method, the various upgrade technologies, the timing of the decision in regards to investment criteria and how they might differ in different climates." View the Full Paper AUTHOR: Hui Huang And Xin Janet Ge TITLE: "Effects Of Property Channel On Real Estate Market In China – Case Of Guangzhou, China" |Refereed| KEYWORDS: "The Chinese TV media, real estate TV channel, survey, purchasers decision" ABSTRACT: "With the booming real estate market, the Chinese TV media launches a professional property TV channel – the Real Estate Channel. The Channel provides not only platforms for promoting real estate information, professional market analysis, housing policies, but also advertisements for developers to sell their real estates. There is an argument as to whether the Property Channel does attract audiences and influence people’s purchase decision. This paper aims to analyse the effects of the Real Estate Channel to the real estate Market through a case of Guangzhou, China. A survey is conducted to explore the influences on the Real Estate Channel on people’s property purchase activities in Guangzhou. The study is conducted in the following manner: Firstly, the current background of the residential real estate market and the setting and programs of the Real Estate Channel are briefly illustrated. Secondly, mass media theory and literature on media’s influences on real estate market are briefly reviewed. Thirdly, the survey design and data collection procedures are described. Audience rating of the Real Estate Channel was also collected for the study. Finally, the effects of Real Estate Channel on the real estate market are analysed. The findings suggest that the Real Estate Channel contributes in providing information on property that influences purchasers’ decision." View the Full Paper AUTHOR: Simon Huston, Sebastien Darchen And Emma Ladouceur TITLE: Tod Development In Theory And Practice: The Case Of Albion Mill |Refereed| KEYWORDS: "Transport Orientated Development, Place-making, Urban regeneration, Special Purpose Vehicle, Tax Increment Financing, TOD Corporation" ABSTRACT: "In the face of population, energy and competitive pressures, cities face considerable challenges. Transport Orientated Development (TOD), in a variety of formats, is seen as one solution. TODs are compact, walkable precinct, centred on train or other public transit systems, which cut traffic congestion but also enhance ‘place identity’. However, a conjunction of factors can scuttle timely TOD implementation in practice. First, TODs often struggle to resolve the tension between human-scale form and increased logistical function. Second, TODs are expensive to construct because engineering for connectivity and aesthetic interfaces is not cheap. Finally, institutional constraints often prevent TOD ‘self-actualisation’. Fragmented planning and state bureaucracies suffer from, if not malfeasance, then competing objectives and local resistance. Searching for pathways through the conceptual, financial and institutional bottlenecks, we conduct a brief review of some TOD literature and the Australian backdrop before an extended case study of FKP’s troubled Albion Mill TOD project on Brisbane’s north side. Challenging financial conditions, more appealing competitive projects compounded inherent project TOD concerns. Specifically, its isolated implementation would leave significant TOD logistical and place making neighbourhood deficiencies. We sketch two alternate TOD realisation pathways to spread risk: retention and re-configuration with uplift advocacy or, alternatively, a more formal outsourcing of risk via a special purpose vehicle or a ‘TOD corporation’. These twin strategic solutions are generally applicable to all TOD projects." View the Full Paper AUTHOR: Judy Line And Karen Janiszewski TITLE: Growing Affordable Housing For Women KEYWORDS: "Affordable Housing, Asset Growth, Development, Strategic" ABSTRACT: "Women’s Housing is focused on ensuring that all women have the right to safe, secure, affordable housing choices. Through strategic business planning and development Women’s Housing has grown from a start up company with net assets of $230,000 in 2009 and is striving towards business maturity. Today Women’s Housing has net assets of $30million. Women’s Housing seeks greater growth in providing housing for disadvantaged women but the continued uncertainty as a result of the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) and tight bank guidelines has seen future growth being more difficult to achieve. So where do social housing providers sit and how will they be perceived and where can sustainable growth occur within the bounds of acceptable risk profiles. To date Women’s Housing has delivered product that mixes with mainstream communities at lower deliverable cost, but more importantly has allowed disadvantaged women to integrate seamlessly into communities and begin the journey of financial independence. The paper will outline the journey of growth that Women’s Housing has embarked upon, including the commercial structures and associated risk profiles within the organisations governance framework, to achieve growth. It will also discuss where and how sustainable growth might be achieved." View the Full Paper AUTHOR: Seung-Young Jeong And Jinu Kim TITLE: The Spatial Factors And Retail Units’ Prices In Seoul |Refereed| KEYWORDS: "retail unit price, spatial factors, multi-dimensional scale, Ordinary Least Squares (OLS)" ABSTRACT: "This study empirically tests the spatial factors of retail units’ prices in Seoul. The spatial factors affecting retail units’ prices can be classified into three main categories; market, site, and building characteristics. The first stage uses a multi-dimensional scale to investigate the three categories. The second stage uses the Regression Analysis with Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) to test the relationship between retail units’ prices and various spatial factors. The data used in this paper includes property prices and retail units’ characteristics of 315 properties in Seoul, Korea. Land price, size of the unit, and ground floor variables have been found to be positively correlated to retail units’ prices. In addition, market, site and building characteristics (spatial factors) are also important determinants of retail units’ prices. Size of the unit, unit entitlement, and ground floor also influenced retail units’ prices in Seoul." View the Full Paper AUTHOR: Shen Jianfu And Frederik Pretorius TITLE: Real Estate Development With Financial Frictions And Collateralized Debt KEYWORDS: ABSTRACT: "This paper introduces financial frictions and the collateralized debt capacity of a company into real estate development within an options theory framework. The financial frictions affect option value by forced acceleration of development or forced delay which harms option value. Yet the land and properties in the firm can be used as collateral to ease financial constraints. This financial flexibility interacts with real flexibility and affects firm performance. The firm with more assets to collateralize or high market value may imply larger financial flexibility due to the presence of available collateral. This financial flexibility functions to reduce the distortion of option exercise and improves the firm’s investment performance. As the value of collateral moves with the value of underlying assets, the collateral channel may amplify real estate cycles by encouraging overbuilding in expanding markets." View the Full Paper AUTHOR: Nicole Johnston, Chris Guilding And Sacha Reid TITLE: Examining Developer Actions That Embed Protracted Conflict And Dysfunctionality In Staged Multi-Owned Residential Schemes KEYWORDS: "Governance decisions, developer practises, residential multi-owned developments, dysfunctionalism." ABSTRACT: "Anecdotal evidence suggests that if inappropriate decisions are made by developers in the initial establishment phase of multi-owned residential schemes, conflict and long-term dysfunctionalism for the eventual owners result. This paper maps out practises commonly utilised by developers in establishing staged, multi-owned residential developments and the consequences that these practises can have on a scheme in the short and long-term. Findings stemming from twelve semi-structured interviews conducted with key strata and community title industry experts from around Australia are reported. It appears there are a number of practises, including; inappropriate budget setting, entry into inappropriate long-term contracts, and retention of majority voting power which can affect the viability and functionality of a scheme and also incite conflict for many years following cessation of the developer’s formal involvement with a scheme." View the Full Paper AUTHOR: Ernie Jowsey And Jon Kellet TITLE: The Contribution Of Housing To Carbon Emissions And The Potential For Reduction: An Australia-Uk Comparison |Refereed| KEYWORDS: "housing, carbon emissions, green house gas." ABSTRACT: "Housing is the predominant land use in most cities and also a major contributor to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The sources of these emissions vary depending on climatic factors, building designs and occupant behaviour. Government driven initiatives seek to affect all of these aspects in a drive to reduce GHG emissions. This review examines the profile of emissions from housing in the UK and Australia as well as comparing current policy initiatives to shift towards a low carbon future. We assess the potential for GHG reduction from an economic, technical and behavioural perspective seeking to determine where opportunities for GHG reduction exist in the housing profiles of these two very different situations and whether practice in either country can inform the other." View the Full Paper AUTHOR: Valerie Kupke, Peter Rossini And Sharon Yam TITLE: Identifying Home Ownership Rates For Female Households In Australia |Refereed| KEYWORDS: "Female home ownership, Australia, propensity" ABSTRACT: "This paper identifies rates of female home ownership in Australia and assesses whether there has been a significant change over the period 1998 to 2008. The hypothesis is that with increasing female employment notably in the service sector an increase in the rate of female home ownership might be expected over this time period. Home ownership is promoted as a means of ensuring financial security yet women face particular challenges in achieving it. This study establishes the extent to which female home ownership rates and propensity to purchase are impacted by income, household type and location." View the Full Paper AUTHOR: Matti Kuronen, Mikko Weckroth And Wisa Majamaa TITLE: Public-Led Urban Development Projects – Comparing Victoria And Scandinavia |Refereed| KEYWORDS: "Urban development, NPM, Ecological sustainability, Accountability, Residential development" ABSTRACT: "This paper compares public-led urban development processes in Victoria, Australia and in Sweden and Finland, both located in Scandinavia. Despite the long distance between Victoria and Scandinavia, the areas have a lot in common in urban development processes and legislation; and share also characters of New Public Management (NPM). Both Victoria and Scandinavian countries seek actively ecological sustainability in urban development, but lean mostly on private companies to deliver the development. The paper draws on NPM and property development theories. The cases chosen to be investigated are examples of public-led but market-based urban development with aims toward greater ecological sustainability. Altogether three different approaches are examined with emphasis on approach to ecological sustainability and accountability of those responsible. The precise sustainability aims differ within the cases as the conditions are rather different. The results illuminate possibilities of combining the ecological and economical sustainability in urban development in various modes of public-led urban development, and have practical relevance in both Victoria and Scandinavia. According to the results, it is possible to enhance ecological sustainability in public-led urban development. Accountability seems to depend on form of organisation and its steering." View the Full Paper AUTHOR: Veronika Lang And Peter Sittler TITLE: Augmented Reality For Real Estate |Refereed| KEYWORDS: "Augmented Reality, Augmented Virtuality, Smartphones, New Technologies, New Media, Applications, Apps, Real Estate Search, AR Browser, Living Architecture, Indoor Mapping Service" ABSTRACT: "Our project deals with the yet unchartered topic of the use of augmented reality (AR) in the field of real estate. Augmented reality means that the reality of the display by camera images is enhanced with the GPS and compass information on the smartphone and combined with supplementary data from external knowledge bases, social media networks or real estate search engines. So a value for the user will be created that turns the real and the virtual objects in a multi-dimensional relationship to each another. Market analyses assume a rapid growth of the number of augmented reality applications. One field of application is searching for property via smartphone. On the other hand there are several real estate applications concerning architecture, buildings, refurbishment and housing renewal and even orientating in shopping centers. The field of augmented reality applications for real estate is wide, but not explored. Our paper presented at the ERES conference 2011 shows that only a few real estate search applications on the German speaking market supports AR. The aim of the project is to analyse the quantity and usage of real estate augmented reality applications with special focus on German-speaking regions. Using qualitative methodology and literature research provides a methodical comparison of applications available. Based on the results of our research, the project covers the structural, technological and user related factors that facilitate or impede dissemination of augmented reality applications for real estate. As a result it should be given a smart overview of the existing applications and the market potential of ARapplications for real estate with a visionary conclusion of expected future developments." View the Full Paper AUTHOR: Alice Lawson TITLE: Social Sustainability Through Affordable Housing In South Australia KEYWORDS: ABSTRACT: "The South Australian Government is implementing an ambitious 30 Year Urban Plan to provide a transit driven future accommodating high population growth within existing areas and on fringe land. Provision of Affordable Housing is a key planning initiative supporting this socially sustainable mix and growth. The government has set a target of 15% Affordable Housing in all new significant developments, with a major focus on the Adelaide Metropolitan area. Planning and Housing Legislation has been aligned at all levels from the State Strategic Plan and the Planning Strategy through to Council Development Plans, with enabling planning policy. The private and NGO /community housing sectors are considered key partners in achieving these outcomes. Within the housing continuum, holistic urban regeneration in areas of high public housing concentrations as well as small scale incremental infill programs are in progress, delivering best practice adaptable housing and energy efficiency. Running parallel with this, Housing SA is pioneering a raft of innovative financial mortgage products in the State such as a 'shared equity' product that provides easier access to home ownership in high demand areas. The paper will outline the progress made, highlight project outcomes and deliver some thoughts on existing and future challenges in meeting the affordable housing targets." View the Full Paper AUTHOR: Chyi Lin Lee, Simon Stevenson And Ming-Long Lee, TITLE: "Paper Futures Trading, Spot Price Volatility And Market Efficiency: Evidence From European Real Estate Securities Futures Title" |Refereed| KEYWORDS: "Real estate securities futures, GARCH, volatility, hedging effectiveness and Europe" ABSTRACT: "In 2007 futures contracts were introduced based upon the listed real estate market in Europe. Following their launch they have received increasing attention from property investors, however, few studies have considered the impact their introduction has had. This study considers two key elements. Firstly, a GARCH model is used to examine the impact of futures trading on the European real estate securities market. The results show that futures trading did not destabilize the underlying listed market. Importantly, the results also reveal that the introduction of a futures market has improved the speed and quality of information flowing to the spot market. Secondly, we assess the hedging effectiveness of the contracts using two alternative strategies (naïve and OLS models). The empirical results also show that the contracts are effective hedging instruments, leading to a reduction in risk of 64%." View the Full Paper AUTHOR: Rita Yi Man Li TITLE: Chow Test Analysis On Structural Change In New Zealand Housing Price During Global Subprime Financial Crisis |Refereed| KEYWORDS: "chow test, subprime crisis, New Zealand, housing price" ABSTRACT: "The global sub-prime crisis in 2007-2009 seriously affected the economy of many countries. Whilst the United States is not a close trading partner of New Zealand, it affects her trading partners and indirectly affects her economy and real estate prices. To locate the date of structural change in housing prices in New Zealand during the global financial crisis, quarterly data include Housing Price Index and building permit, Gross Domestic Product, unemployment rate, currency exchange rate, building permit in New Zealand from 1988 to 2010 is collected. The Chow test shows that there was a structural break in the first quarter of 2008 in New Zealand housing prices." View the Full Paper AUTHOR: Rita Yi Man Li TITLE: A Review On 10 Countries’ Sustainable Housing Policies To Combat Climate Change. KEYWORDS: "Global warming, climate change, sustainable development, housing policies" ABSTRACT: "The recent extremely cold weather in United Kingdom and United States, flooding in Australia, Pakistan and India remind us the problem of global warming. Politicians, green groups, building professionals and general public are finding the ways out. What have our housing policy makers done to combat inevitable climate change and reduce the greenhouse gases emission by energy reduction? This paper reviews 1) the factors which lead to global climate change, 2) general overview on 10 countries’ recent housing policies which are designed to combat climate change, 3) cost and benefit analysis of the abovementioned housing policies." View the Full Paper AUTHOR: Tony Lockwood And Peter Rossini TITLE: Efficacy Of The Geographically Weighted Model On The Mass Appraisal Process |Refereed| KEYWORDS: "CAMA, Mass Appraisal, Geographically Weighted Regression" ABSTRACT: Single transparent models are increasingly being sought to account for site and capital value as well as location in the geographically smaller outer metropolitan urban suburbs in which there was often assumed little or no spatial variation. This paper compares the use of a Geographically Weighted Regression (GWR) hedonic model with the more traditional hedonic models where there is market evidence of both vacant land and improved residential values. This study found that where there is evidence of spatial variation and a presence of both improved and at least some vacant land sales the GWR model exhibited specification limitations that the more traditional models such as hybrid models did not and that the latter were able to more accurately predict vacant land prices while also accounting for location. View the Full Paper AUTHOR: Fionn Mackillop TITLE: Balancing The Need For Affordable Housing With The Challenges Of Sustainable Development In South East Queensland And Beyond. KEYWORDS: "sustainable housing, affordable housing, public housing, housing crisis, Australia" ABSTRACT: "There is much talk of a housing affordability crisis in Australia, accompanied by a sense of a lack of sustainability of the current stock and new builds. I discuss the notions of housing affordability and sustainability in the current Australian context, to explain why indeed there is an affordability problem and how it is connected to that of sustainability. I then consider how this situation has come about, and what directions could be taken in addressing it. It emerges that the crucial point is the need for a cultural change in terms of expectations and approaches in achieving affordability and sustainability." View the Full Paper AUTHOR: Damian Madigan TITLE: Prefabricated Housing And The Implications For Personal Connection |Refereed| KEYWORDS: "prefabrication, architectural delight, place and space, emergency housing, recovery housing" ABSTRACT: "One of the earliest forms of prefabricated building technology still in use today is the balloon (timber stud) wall frame, believed to have first been used around two hundred years ago and even now the concealed skeletal basis of the vast majority of contemporary Australian housing. Whilst much of current residential construction is prefabricated in some way, the housing industry is yet to industrialise the process on a large scale. Often heralded as a potential solution to the complex problems of meeting the needs of both housing demand and affordability, prefabricated housing is yet to be fully adopted in the Australian suburbs. Perhaps it is because much of systematised construction fails to provide the personal connection we seek with our dwellings. If so, it may be that the success of a prefabricated response to housing needs lies, then, in a rethinking of how its very building methodology might facilitate a greater sense of space and place in the dwellings produced. This paper discusses these issues in the context of disaster relief – conditions where prefabricated building responses are often preferred. It argues that in post-disaster situations, design matters, and it offers four objectives to rethink how the design of disaster relief and recovery buildings might be approached. If architectural delight – that which engages us with our built surroundings – can be enabled in and by prefabricated buildings in something as complex as emergency housing, then the potential for expanding prefabrication in our general housing could be significant" View the Full Paper AUTHOR: Kf Man And Peter Py Mok TITLE: An Empirical Study On The Impacts Of Express Rail Link On Property Price-Hong Kong Evidence KEYWORDS: ABSTRACT: "This paper studies the effect of compulsory purchase (resumption) of underground strata for the construction of the Hong Kong Section of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link on property price empirically. A local newspaper asserted that the scheme would adversely affect the property price and this assertion is taken as the null hypothesis to be tested. Most of the current literatures focus on the correlation between local transit networks and property price whilst (empirical) studies of the impact of the construction/ scheme of High Speed Rail across borders on property price are relatively rare. Our sample consists of 267 affected homes in Tai Kok Tsui, which were transacted within one year before or after gazette notice for the scheme was posted. Hedonic Pricing Model is employed to analyze the impacts of the scheme on the prices of the affected homes. Empirical results show that the scheme has a positive effect (14.7% increases) on the property price in a statistically significant manner, all others being equal. This indicates that the alternative hypothesis is true and betterment instead of damage was caused by the resumption. As a corollary, we find that the operation of another government law (Cap 545) governing the redevelopment process does again have an overwhelming positive effect (85.7% increase) on the property price." View the Full Paper AUTHOR: Kf Man And Sh Fung TITLE: Operation Efficiencyassessment Of Hong Kong Public Funded Universities-A Dea Approach KEYWORDS: ABSTRACT: "Operation efficiency assessment is important in measuring the performance of an organization; especially the non-profit making organizations such as educational institutes. DEA is a common tool in evaluating the efficiency of organizations and have been employed to measure the efficiency of universities in different places of the world. In this study, we will employ output oriented (with the same inputs) DEA methods to study the performances of the seven public funded universities in Hong Kong for an 8 year horizon. Results of this study indicate that the general efficiency scores obtained by the assessed universities are relatively high. Universities in Hong Kong are broadly divided into research universities (U1, U2 and U3) and teaching universities (U4, U5, U6 and U7) and the results support this general division as teaching universities are generally performing better in teaching and research universities are generally performing better in researches. However, we observe that time (length of history) is not a critical factor on the performances for both groups. We hope this study will provide some useful information and insights to the performance and efficiency of universities in Hong Kong and indirectly make contribution to the improvements of the same." View the Full Paper AUTHOR: Vince Mangioni TITLE: Defining The Role Of Valuations In Mortgage Lending |Refereed| KEYWORDS: "Valuation, Property, Advice" ABSTRACT: "In cases where property investment is financed, two important criteria apply in the determining of that finance. The first criteria is the ability of the investor to service the loan, the second and perhaps most crucial is the relativity of the purchase price of property to its value. This paper is a critique of the valuation profession and the use of valuations to engineer the lending of money after the purchase price of property has been determined. This is in contrast to the use of valuations prior to the purchase of property, in which the valuation may influence the price paid for property. A survey of several professions has been undertaken in determining the importance of the valuation, alongside other advice in the property purchase process. Further to demonstrating the potential use of valuations prior to purchase, this paper makes a contribution to expanding the role of the valuation profession, through the valuer being engaged by the borrower, rather than the long standing tradition of the valuation profession being the sole domain of the lender." View the Full Paper AUTHOR: Tajul Ariffin Masron And Hassan Gholipour Fereidouni TITLE: The Effect Of Fdi On Foreign Real Estate Investment: Evidence From Emerging Economies |Refereed| KEYWORDS: "Foreign Real Estate Investments, Foreign Direct Investment, Panel Data Analysis, Emerging Economies" ABSTRACT: "The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of foreign direct investment in other sectors (FDI) on foreign investment in real estate sectors (FREI) in emerging economies after controlling other relevant determinants of FREI. Applying the panel data technique, this paper uses related observations from 16 emerging economies to investigate the relationships between FDI and FREI. Our analysis shows that countries with higher level of FDI in other sectors attract greater amounts of FREI." View the Full Paper AUTHOR: Anas Matsham & Christopher Heywood TITLE: An Investigation Of Corporate Real Estate Management Outsourcing In Melbourne |Refereed| KEYWORDS: "Australia, Corporate Real Estate Management, outsourcing, strategies" ABSTRACT: "Outsourcing of at least some Corporate Real Estate Management (CREM) services has become common business practice over recent years, in Australia and elsewhere, and its adoption continues to spread. The literature suggests several reasons why this has occurred including – cost control, seeking access to skills and technology, and competitive reasons. Several challenges have also been identified such as vicarious liability for service provider actions, loss of internal capabilities, and provider performance. It is some time since outsourcing and in-house CREM arrangements were systematically studied in Australia. This paper reports a qualitative study that investigated current issues around CREM outsourcing arrangements in six Melbourne-based organisations. Six factors that contributed to CREM outsourcing were identified with several organisations reporting multiple contributory factors. The most important factors were cost savings and access to skills, technology and best practice. Similarly, six challenges were identified and also six strategies to overcome those challenges. The most important challenges were communication issues and service provider performance. Strategies to overcome the challenges included improved communication management, and performance management through Key Performance Indicators and regular monitoring. Many of the study’s findings confirm issues and challenges identified in previous studies. This study does show that the issues and challenges are persistent but organisations are aware of them and are taking steps to address them." View the Full Paper AUTHOR: John Mcdonagh TITLE: The Christchurch Earthquakes Impact On Inner City “Colonisers” KEYWORDS: ABSTRACT: "The 2010 and 2011 earthquakes have had a devastating impact on the city of Christchurch, New Zealand. The level of destruction has been especially evident in the central business district where it has been estimated over 1000 buildings have already been or will eventually require demolition. Although, contrary to expectations, most of the fatalities were in relatively modern buildings, the Victorian and Edwardian era building stock was especially hard hit in terms of property damage. Unfortunately this era and style of building were also the focus of the most successful inner city revitalisation projects to date. A major research project is now underway examining the impact on the earthquakes on one of these revitalisation areas. The first step is to examine the international literature on similar inner city revitalisation or gentrification areas and in particular the characteristics of owners and occupiers attracted to this type of environment. This is the focus of this paper." View the Full Paper AUTHOR: Abdul Rahman Mohd Nasir, Chris Eves And Yusdira Yusof TITLE: Education On Plant And Machinery Valuation For The Real Market: Malaysian Practicality |Refereed| KEYWORDS: "Plant and machinery, plant and machinery valuation, plant and machinery education." ABSTRACT: "The purpose of this paper is to determine and discuss on the plant and machinery valuation syllabus for higher learning education in Malaysia to ensure the practicality of the subject in the real market. There have been limited studies in plant and machinery area, either by scholars or practitioners. Most papers highlighted the methodologies but limited papers discussed on the plant and machinery valuation education. This paper will determine inputs for plant and machinery valuation guidance focussing on the syllabus set up and references for valuers interested in this area of expertise. A qualitative approach via content analysis is conducted to compare international and Malaysian plant and machinery valuation syllabus and suggest improvements for Malaysian syllabus. It is found that there are few higher education institutions in the world that provide plant and machinery valuation courses as part of their property studies syllabus. Further investigation revealed that on the job training is the preferable method for plant and machinery valuation education and based on the valuers experience. The significance of this paper is to increase the level of understanding of plant and machinery valuation criteria and provide suggestions to Malaysian stakeholders with the relevant elements in plant and machinery valuation education syllabus." View the Full Paper AUTHOR: Timothy O’Leary TITLE: Residential Energy Efficiency And Mandatory Disclosure Practices |Refereed| KEYWORDS: "mandatory disclosure, home energy efficiency" ABSTRACT: "The mandatory disclosure of residential building energy, greenhouse and water performance is a key goal expressed in Australian government building energy and carbon emission reduction targets. To introduce mandatory disclosure at the point of sale or lease for residential properties requires a real estate industry and wider public consultation where the merits, possible shortcomings and finer details of various schemes and regulatory options are examined. A major issue for the Australian real estate industry going forward, is what will mandatory disclosure look like? This paper seeks to addresses this question by an analysis of home energy efficiency rating and the current Residential Building Mandatory Disclosure(RBMD) landscape in Australia at both the Commonwealth and State/Territory level. The release of a Regulatory Impact Statement (RIS) including an assessment of the costs and benefits of various options for a national scheme provides a measure of likely regulation and practices around house sale and lease transactions. Issues with implementation, the perception of stakeholders and the tools that may be employed are investigated as are wider energy efficiency and sustainability issues to do with the nation’s housing stock and a carbon price impact on housing energy and build costs." View the Full Paper AUTHOR: David Parker TITLE: Property Education In Australia: Themes And Issues |Refereed| KEYWORDS: "Property, education, tertiary, University, Australia" ABSTRACT: A national symposium on the future of property education in Australia was held at the University of South Australia on 5th August 2011. The paper synthesises the various speakers’ presentations at the symposium and draws conclusions from the matters discussed. View the Full Paper AUTHOR: Alan Peters TITLE: Urban Planning And Its Impact On Housing Markets – The Sydney Example In Theoretical Perspective |Refereed| KEYWORDS: "housing markets, market failure, Sydney, planning system" ABSTRACT: "Land and housing markets in developed economies should lead to the intersection of demand and supply. Sydney is unusual in that it has very considerable demand but, for at least half a decade, has also been unable to produce adequate, or even near adequate, supply. There are many possible reasons for this situation. What is clear is that producing supply in some of the sub-markets of metropolitan Sydney is not financially viable. Urban planning is often named as a leading cause of the difficulty with supply. This paper is divided into three sections. The first looks at the particular housing supply problem that Sydney faces, the second tries to disarticulate the various reasons for the supply issue, and the third analyses, from a theoretical perspective, the likely impact of urban planning on the housing supply" View the Full Paper AUTHOR: Melissa Pocock TITLE: "Holdouts, Site Amalgamations And Renewal Of Urban Areas: A Call For Legislative Reform" |Refereed| KEYWORDS: "Infill development, Urban renewal, Holdouts, Site amalgamation, Compulsory acquisition in Australia, Eminent Domain" ABSTRACT: "Developers play a key role in the development of housing for Australian communities. However, composing a site is a complex and intricate process because owners ‘hold out’ to achieve maximum possible prices. This paper proposes that legislative reform is necessary to aid in housing renewal. Housing renewal may counteract problems of land scarcity, population growth, ageing buildings and urban sprawl. Compulsory acquisition case law in Australia and the United States is compared to identify a viable option for legislative reform. Drawing upon the American experience considerations to protect landowners’ rights are identified which seek to balance rights against housing renewal needs." View the Full Paper AUTHOR: Mohammad Anisur Rahman And Nicholas Chileshe TITLE: "Attitudes, Perceptions And Practices Of Contractors Towards Quality Related Risks In South Australia" KEYWORDS: "Risk management, practices, quality, tendering, construction industry, Australia" ABSTRACT: "This study addresses the process of pricing quality related risk at the bidding stage in the competitive method of procurement, While some studies have been undertaken in other states of Australia, they are limited studies dealing with contractor’s perception about quality while considering risks and during bidding stage in the South Australia region. The aim of this study is to ascertain the attitudes, perceptions and identify the general practices of contractors in pricing risks and secondly to find out their practices towards quality related risks during the tendering stage. The data was elicited using a survey sample of a cross-section of 23 construction contractors registered with the Master Builders Association of South Australian (MBASA), and the results were analysed using frequency distribution. The results show that the majority of the contractors do not use any risk management processes. Usage was dependent on experience and judgement of the decision makers. Three prominent practices established were consideration for adding only high ranked risks with the base cost, additional of a percentage in the overall cost, and pricing high ranked risks independently and then adding additional lump sum for the residual risk. The identification of these practices could benefit the contractor’s in pricing risks more effectively and negate the conflicts arising through the dissatisfaction from the non-performance and quality related issues." View the Full Paper AUTHOR: Janek Ratnatunga And David Parker TITLE: A Capability Approach To Real Estate Valuation And Value Enhancement KEYWORDS: "Real estate value, real estate capability, financial valuation metrics, property appraisals," ABSTRACT: "There are numerous financial metrics available in the academic and commercial world to estimate real estate value. Appraisers often use such metrics when advising on the purchase or sale of real estate at a point in time. The first part of this paper proposes a new metric, based on the capability approach, to make an ex-post single period valuation. Further, appraisers often give advice to their clients on actions to take in order to enhance the value of their real estate. This area of value enhancement has received scant attention in the academic literature. In practice, this advice is often based ad-hoc, anecdotal recommendations. The second part of the paper develops seven real estate strengths that can be targeted, and provides an ex-ante approach to building real estate value. The valuation model presented in this paper is a pragmatic approach to enhancing both the values of tangible and intangible capabilities of a property by utilizing Expense Leveraged Value Indexes (ELVI)." View the Full Paper AUTHOR: Wejendra Reddy TITLE: Determining The Current Optimal Allocation To Property: A Study Of Australian Fund Managers KEYWORDS: "property investment, asset allocation strategies, fund management, risk and return analysis, diversification, portfolio construction and management." ABSTRACT: "While there are several studies on the level of property allocation in multi-asset portfolio, research on actual property asset allocation decision-making process is limited in Australia. This research paper examines the property asset allocation strategies for the A$1.7 trillion Australian managed funds industry and identifies the important steps and considerations that influence their optimal property allocation view and decision making process. Based on in-depth semi-structured survey, the research identifies and documents the factors that aid property asset allocation decisions for Australian fund managers. It investigates the use and relevancy of Strategic Asset Allocation, Dynamic Strategic Asset Allocation and Tactical Asset Allocation strategies for property asset allocation decisions. The results indicate that the allocation of resources to property assets is a complex system of interdependent decisions given its distinctive investment characteristics when compared to alternative asset classes. Apart from definitive/ quantitative inputs in property asset allocation models, Australian fund managers are influenced by many other non-financial considerations. In addition, there are notable differences in techniques for direct property, unlisted property and securitised property asset allocation. The current level of allocation to property assets remain low (8% to 12% of portfolio) for institutions surveyed. Property nevertheless, is expected to continue to increasingly attract investor attention due to its relatively low volatility when compared to equities, its inflation-hedging qualities and its ability to provide stable income." View the Full Paper AUTHOR: Damrongsak Rinchumpoo, Chris Eves And Connie Susilawati TITLE: "The Validation Of The Rating For Sustainable Subdivision Neighbourhood Design (Rssnd) In Bangkok Metropolitan Region (Bmr), Thailand" |Refereed| KEYWORDS: "Rating tool, subdivision development, neighbourhood design, sustainability, Bangkok Metropolitan Region, validation" ABSTRACT: "In recent years, the problems resulting from unsustainable subdivision development have become significant problems in the Bangkok Metropolitan Region (BMR), Thailand. Numbers of government departments and agencies have tried to eliminate the problems by introducing the rating tools to encourage the higher sustainability levels of subdivision development in BMR, such as the Environmental Impact Assessment Monitoring Award (EIA-MA) and the Thai’s Rating for Energy and Environmental Sustainability of New construction and major renovation (TREES-NC). However, the EIA-MA has included the neighbourhood designs in the assessment criteria, but this requirement applies to large projects only. Meanwhile, TREES-NC has focused only on large scale buildings such as condominiums, office buildings, and is not specific for subdivision neighbourhood designs. Recently, the new rating tool named “Rating for Sustainable Subdivision Neighbourhood Design (RSSND)” has been developed. Therefore, the validation process of RSSND is still required. This paper aims to validate the new rating tool for subdivision neighbourhood design in BMR. The RSSND has been validated by applying the rating tool to eight case study subdivisions. The result of RSSND by data generated through surveying subdivisions will be compared to the existing results from the EIA-MA. The selected cases include of one “Excellent Award”, two “Very Good Award”, and five non-rated subdivision developments. This paper expects to prove the credibility of RSSND before introducing to the real subdivision development practises. The RSSND could be useful to encourage higher sustainability subdivision design level, and then protect the problems from further subdivision development in BMR." View the Full Paper AUTHOR: Peter Rossini And Valerie Kupke TITLE: Granger Causality Test For The Relationship Between House And Land Prices |Refereed| KEYWORDS: "Housing Market, land pricing, time series analysis, granger causality" ABSTRACT: "This paper uses a Granger causality estimate to assess whether the theoretical Ricardian understanding of the relationship between house and land prices is valid in a dynamic urban land market. The paper compares a Site Adjusted Land Price Index with an equivalent Quality Adjusted Housing Price Index developed for Adelaide, the state capital of South Australia for the period 1985 to 2010. The study clearly identifies the increasing gap in the rate of growth between vacant land and detached house prices for a metropolitan area and concludes that house prices Granger cause land prices but not that land prices Granger cause house prices." View the Full Paper AUTHOR: Steven Rowley TITLE: Housing Market Dynamics In Rural And Regional Australia |Refereed| KEYWORDS: "Regional, Rural, Housing Markets, Housing Policy" ABSTRACT: "Rural and regional housing markets experience many of the same demand and supply drivers as their urban counterparts. However, there are many factors unique to rural and regional centres, both geographical and institutional, which have a significant impact on housing market dynamics. Many of these towns are ill equipped to deal with the rapid pace of change within their housing markets; from population growth stemming from mining activities or sea/tree change movements for example. The result is rapidly declining affordability leading to a range of social issues. But local government is often powerless to respond because it lacks the capacity and knowledge to deliver an appropriate supply response. Staffing and skill issues exist on the planning side but additionally, many towns missed out on government stimulus schemes to boost social housing supply, or deliver NRAS units, because they were unable to devote the time, or lacked the expertise, to complete the many complex application processes. Based on research funded by the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute (final report no. 165), this paper details some specific examples where housing policy has failed towns and cities in rural and regional Australia. It discusses the decline of affordability, particularly in the private rental market, and recommends how policy could be better focused on delivering housing solutions within regional Australia. The paper concentrates on the case studies of Chinchilla and Townsville to illustrate housing market outcomes in rural and regional Australia." View the Full Paper AUTHOR: Jane H. Simpson TITLE: An Exploratory Study Of The Performance Characteristics Of The Property Vehicles Listed On The New Zealand Stock Exchange (Nzx) KEYWORDS: "Listed Property Trust, property, real estate, performance, New Zealand." ABSTRACT: "There are two listed property investment vehicles on the New Zealand Stock Exchange (NZX), namely Listed Property Trusts (LPTs) and Listed Property Investment Companies (LPICs). The proportion of New Zealand LPTs to LPICs has varied over the years. The more recent trend for LPTs to corporatise has resulted in a significant reduction in the number of Trusts on the NZX in 2010 and has encouraged two further Trusts to consider corporatising in 2012. The objective of this exploratory study was to determine whether LPTs performed differently to LPICs in order to determine if LPTs should be treated as a separate asset class. The study developed separate performance indices for the LPTs and LPICs in order to examine the performance characteristics of these property vehicles over the study period December 1993 to September 2011. The effect of different market conditions on the performance of these vehicles was also assessed by analysing the performance of LPTs and LPICs over specified sub-periods. Data for this study were sourced from the following databases: NZX Company Research, RBNZ, and PCNZ/IPD. The results revealed that the performance characteristics of these two entities differed over the study period December 1993 to September 2011, which suggests that LPICs and LPTs can be treated as separate asset classes. However performance analysis of these entities over the three sub-periods (pre-Asian crisis, post Asian crisis to pre-GFC, and post-GFC) showed that the differences between LPTs and LPICs reduced post-GFC, and that the performance characteristics of these entities are now more aligned." View the Full Paper AUTHOR: Garrick Small TITLE: Government Space Procurement Options: Testing The Myths |Refereed| KEYWORDS: "Government Funding, Public Private Partnerships, PPP, BOOT, VfM, PSC" ABSTRACT: "The belief that the community is best served when government departments and instrumentalities lease space provided by the private sector rather than own their own real estate is tested using an Australian case study. A government department (The Department) needing a new head office in an Australian capital city presented researchers with eight options for providing commercial space to analyse using actual market data. This paper presents the results of the analysis as a test of financial efficiency for Public-Private Partnership (PPP) delivery of government commercial space. The eight options range from self managed construction on The Department’s own land, through various private/public strategies to leasing available commercial space on the open market. The analysis found that the ultimate financial cost increased with increasing private involvement and the optimum risk strategy was to retain a builder to construct on The Department’s land. The final decision of The Department was not consistent with the risk and return analysis but did reflect the bias of common opinion on appropriate policy. Social and strategic implications are reviewed in terms of financial effectiveness to provide a financial analysis of the costs of moving public services into dependence on private sector space. It is found that a more nuanced approach to public debt is appropriate that distinguishes between debt used for productive purposes and that used for the provision of services." View the Full Paper AUTHOR: Connie Susilawati And Deborah Peach TITLE: Challenges Of Measuring Learning Outcomes For Property Students Engaged In Work Integrated Learning |Refereed| KEYWORDS: "work integrated learning, professional practice, property economics, learning outcomes, assessment" ABSTRACT: "Work integrated learning (WIL) or professional practice units are recognised as providing learning experiences that help students make successful transitions to professional practice. These units require students to engage in learning in the workplace; to reflect on this learning; and to integrate it with learning at university. However, an analysis of a recent cohort of property economics students at a large urban university provides evidence that there is great variation in work based learning experiences undertaken and that this impacts on students’ capacity to respond to assessment tasks which involve critiquing these experiences in the form of reflective reports. This paper highlights the need to recognise the diversity of work based experiences; the impact this has on learning outcomes; and to find more effective and equitable ways of measuring these outcomes. The paper briefly discusses assessing learning outcomes in WIL and then describes the model of WIL in the Faculty of Built Environment and Engineering at the Queensland University of Technology (QUT). The paper elaborates on the diversity of students’ experiences and backgrounds including variations in the length of work experience, placement opportunities and conditions of employment.. For example, the analysis shows that students with limited work experience often have difficulty critiquing this work experience and producing high level reflective reports. On the other hand students with extensive, discipline relevant work experience can be frustrated by assessment requirements that do not take their experience into account. Added to this the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) has restricted both part time and full time placement opportunities for some students. These factors affect students’ capacity to a) secure a relevant work experience, b) reflect critically on the work experiences and c) appreciate the impact the overall experience can have on their learning outcomes and future professional opportunities. Our investigation highlights some of the challenges faced in implementing effective and equitable approaches across diverse student cohorts. We suggest that increased flexibility in assessment requirements and increased feedback from industry may help address these challenges." View the Full Paper AUTHOR: Stephen F. Thode And Robert Culp TITLE: A Proposed Mortgage To Help Avoid Another Housing Bubble |Refereed| KEYWORDS: "Mortgages, subprime lending, default, foreclosure, housing bubble, underwriting." ABSTRACT: "The massive housing bubble of the first five years of the 21st Century that impacted many nations, and the subsequent collapse of housing prices created massive losses for investors in the mortgages written on homes for which the homeowners subsequently defaulted, or who otherwise failed to keep current on their mortgage payments. Lax mortgage underwriting standards, combined with overly optimistic rating agency evaluations of securities backed by mortgages, helped inflate the bubble, and increased the subsequent losses suffered by investors. This laxness was not confined to only new, so-called “subprime” mortgages, but also first mortgage refinancings as well as second, third, and even fourth mortgages. Five years after housing prices began to decline, the domestic USA housing market has still not bottomed-out. Mortgage modification programs have been a resounding failure, while attempts by lenders to foreclose on properties in default have proven difficult to complete. Add in the slow recovery of the USA economy and high levels of unemployment, sales of existing homes and construction of new homes remain at historic lows. This paper recommends several changes to the mortgage underwriting process to reduce the likelihood of a future housing bubble, and changes to the foreclosure process should another bubble occur. To reduce the likelihood of a future bubble, this paper recommends the establishment of mandated dual appraisals on certain mortgage loans. In addition to the customary “sales comparables” appraisal, the paper recommends a second, income-based appraisal to establish the value of the property should the borrower face financial distress. In those circumstances where the income-based appraisal is lower than the sales comparable appraisal, only that portion of the mortgage supported by the lower appraisal is considered “conforming” while any mortgage amount above that supported by the income-based appraisal is considered “non-conforming.” To cope with defaults that occur (as a result of a burst housing bubble, or for any other reason), the paper recommends the inclusion of an “owner-to-renter” option on certain mortgage loans. This option would permit the lender to convert a borrower in default to a renter in lieu of formal foreclosure proceedings. In essence, the borrower would return title to the lender in exchange for a lease on the home at the prevailing fair market rent." View the Full Paper AUTHOR: Gan Seng Keong And Ting Kien Hwa TITLE: Corporate Real Estate Practices Of A Diversified Conglomerate: A Case Study On The Uem Group |Refereed| KEYWORDS: "Corporate real estate, practices, conglomerate, Nourse and Roulac framework" ABSTRACT: "This paper aims to examine the applications of corporate real estate (CRE) approaches and current real estate management practices of UEM Group, a diversified conglomerate listed on Bursa Malaysia. The CRE approaches and elements are evaluated using the Nourse & Roulac framework (Nourse and Roulac, 1993). A deductive approach is used in this study. Survey questionnaires are completed by top management of various companies in the Group to examine the applications of the CRE management framework. The findings of this study indicate there are some elements of CRE practices in the UEM Group but there is a lack of systematic and comprehensive approach to CRE management of its CRE portfolio. Some deficiencies are also identified in the current real estate management practices among the UEM Group companies. Recommendations are provided to address the inadequacies and issues of CRE management faced by the UEM Group." View the Full Paper AUTHOR: Pamela Wardner TITLE: Understanding The Role Of ‘Sense Of Place’ In Office Location Decisions |Refereed| KEYWORDS: "sense of place, office location decision, master planned communities, employment centres" ABSTRACT: "The concept of ‘sense of place’ has well penetrated the vernacular of urban economists, geographers, planners, policy makers and the like since being popularised by geographer Yi-Fu Tuan in 1977. This has strongly influenced contemporary urban management which frequently engages place marketers, place managers and place executives into key roles. This paper examines how the elements of ‘sense of place’ are considered and articulated in studies of office location decisions. Firms, whose main relationship with the built environment as an input to their production, may not truly appreciate the subliminal impacts that ‘place’ has on their productivity – with staff attraction and retention as one of their primary considerations in the final choice. This conceptual paper will draw on published literature and semi-structured interviews with key informants to understand the role and influence of ‘sense of place’ in office location decisions. It will highlight to place marketers the underlying implications firms have actually considered, and also to policy makers whose strategies create more meaningful places to attract firms into their region." View the Full Paper AUTHOR: Clive M J Warren, Ann Peterson And David Neil TITLE: Academic Integrity: Achieving Good Practice In Undergraduate Property And Planning Programs Through Online Tutoring |Refereed| KEYWORDS: ABSTRACT: "Educational institutions globally are grappling with the rising incidence of academic misconduct, in part fuelled by the ever increasing access to online information. Recent audits of universities in Australia (AUQA 2009) indicated that students believed that their institutions did not have the necessary strategies in place to dispel students’ perceptions that plagiarism may be tolerated. This paper reports on the development of teaching tools within Property, Planning and Environmental Management programmes at the University of Queensland. The objective of an online tutorial tool was to improve students’ understanding of academic integrity and good academic practice and to do so in a supportive teaching and learning environment, through the development of an online interactive tutorial. The aims of the tutorial were to: develop learners’ skills in knowing when to reference information and thus avoid plagiarising in their academic work; provide accurate information in an interesting, relevant and interactive way; ensure relevance to the institution’s diverse student body; incorporate the ability to assess students’ understanding of good academic practice; and ensure that the tool would be accessible as a learning resource for students throughout their programs of study. Through pre and post implementation surveys the changes in student perceptions of good practice are identified and used to refine the tutorial tool. The results of the study among students seeking to enter the planning and property professions has demonstrated a lack of clear understanding as to what constitutes poor academic practice. This finding matches the observation among academics that much of the plagiarism detected in students’ academic writing is as a result of poor understanding or practice rather than a deliberate attempt to deceive. Finally the paper reports on the adoption of the teaching tool on a university wide basis and its compulsory application to over 20,000 students." View the Full Paper AUTHOR: Hao Wu And Chuan Chen TITLE: Urban “Brownfields”: An Australian Perspective |Refereed| KEYWORDS: "brownfield, regeneration, regulatory framework, stakeholder" ABSTRACT: "Treatment and conversion of former industrial sites into residential or commercial properties are becoming popular practice in the intensification process of urban regeneration in mature and emerging markets. We use Melbourne as an example to obtain an overview of the institutions that govern inner-city brownfields in Australia. We identify projects/sites, transforming processes and stakeholders related to Melbourne’s inner-city brownfields, an example of ‘best practice system’ useful for international knowledge exchange. The paper concludes that fundamental to the strength of Australian brownfields development is the mature institutional setting for property development. With comprehensive legal system, the government and its agencies are playing essential roles for socially responsible redevelopment process where negative externality due to previous industrial land use is properly identified and responsibilities clarified and allocated. It is hoped that the study can help stimulate and facilitate knowledge sharing between Australia and China on brownfield redevelopment. However it appears that it is challenging task for direct comparison and knowledge transference which demand further scrutiny by policy maker and researcher." View the Full Paper AUTHOR: Sharon Yam TITLE: Corporate Social Responsibility And The Malaysian Property Industry |Refereed| KEYWORDS: "Corporate social responsibility, sustainability, sustainable practice, property developer, Malaysia" ABSTRACT: "Although the notion of corporate social responsibility (CSR) is relatively new in Malaysia, it has gained growing recognition in the country’s property industry since the last decade. The purpose of this paper is to assess the implementation of sustainable practice by property developers particularly on social and environmental perspectives. Content analysis will be used and this involves reviewing property companies’ websites, annual reports, corporate responsibility and sustainability reports, and carbon disclosure reports. Given that there are few papers investigating the perception of Malaysian developers on CSR in the past, it is expected that findings from this project will shed light on the extent of responsible practice undertaken by property companies in the country." View the Full Paper AUTHOR: Siqi Yan, Xin Janet Ge TITLE: Backward-Bending New Housing Supply Curve: Evidence From China |Refereed| KEYWORDS: Backward-bending housing supply relationship; price elasticies of housing supply; China ABSTRACT: "This paper tests the existence of a backward-bending housing supply relationship in China, and estimates price elasticities of new housing supply for 35 major Chinese cities. Based on the panel data model of 35 cities, it is found that the response of housing supply to price change is relatively insensitive in China, and the supply elasticities have decreased with the rise in housing price. As a result, the remarkable increase in housing price in China can be at least partly attributed to inelastic housing supply. The results from this paper may inform Chinese government to take effective measures to reduce the large amount of idle land so as to increase the new housing supply." View the Full Paper AUTHOR: Jia You, Sun Sheng Han And Hao Wu TITLE: "Spatial Distribution Of Affordable Housing Projects In Nanjing, China" |Refereed| KEYWORDS: "Location distribution, government, allocation, affordable housing, Nanjing" ABSTRACT: "Traditional location theory matches location choices and stakeholder (e.g. developer, user) decisions in a competitive efficient market framework. Developer profit and land value are directly linked to the location characteristics of the property development project. Recent progress in theory & empirical studies has indicated the imperfection of the market e.g. market competition is monopolistic in the urban property sector. Urban affordable housing is typically under direct government intervention e.g. planning, finance and taxation benefits and/or restrictions. We investigate the Nanjing (China) affordable housing sector. Data is collected from all existing affordable housing projects (2002-2010) in the city. Semi-structured interviews and site visits were conducted in 2009 and 2010. Through the study of the Nanjing affordable housing case, we found that (1) the site (location) selection of most projects has shown positive relationship with the general land value ingredient of Nanjing; (2) site selection is heavily influenced by nearby urban development projects, which cause strong resettlement demand; (3) due to the local government’s dual role, they consider the economic factors, such as the surrounding conditions of the sites, and the pervious use and compensation fees. We argue that demand and institutional factors place important role in determining the location of affordable housing projects in Nanjing." View the Full Paper AUTHOR: Yusdira Yusof, Chris Eves And Abdul Rahman Mohd Nasir TITLE: Space Management In Malaysian Government Property:A Case Study KEYWORDS: "Space management, space management effectiveness, government property, Malaysia" ABSTRACT: "Cost implications related to the physical resources such as land and building in organisation is significant. Management entity of government or private sectors has often ignored the importance and the contribution gained from the physical resources towards their organisation. This source is a precious asset that can generate income if properly managed. This paper aims to explore the current trends in space management internationally, both from the government and private sector perspectives. A case study is conducted to study the level of effectiveness of space management in one of the government institutions in Malaysia. The findings from the case study will be compared with the current international trend of space management. The study will enrich the current understanding of space management in government properties, as well as to compare the level of space management effectiveness of government properties in Malaysia with the international trends and proposed suggestions to improve current practices of space management of Malaysian government’s properties." View the Full Paper AUTHOR: Paul Zarebski TITLE: A- Reit Fiduciary Remuneration And The Global Financial Crisis KEYWORDS: ABSTRACT: "The recent Global Financial Crisis (GFC) impacted heavily upon A-REIT performance and asset values. This paper examines A-REIT fiduciary remuneration, its determinants, and if it was altered, given the negative impact of the GFC. More specifically, this paper investigates linkages between proactive capital restructuring as a reaction to negative effects of the GFC and changes to managerial compensation. It also examines a variety of characteristics around compensation including A-REIT performance, risk factors and managerial power." View the Full Paper AUTHOR: Geoff Page TITLE: Farmers Market Operation And Establishment: International Perspectives |Refereed| KEYWORDS: "farmers markets, market governance, authenticity, seasonality" ABSTRACT: "The issues involved in the operation and establishment of farmers markets are discussed. These include market rules, product authenticity, market mix, market frequency, market education, management models and market governance. The paper includes insights to successful farmers markets and provides insights from the experience of a stall holders & market managers. The paper builds on earlier studies by the author and includes lessons learnt from interviews with market managers from Italy, United Kingdom, New Zealand and California" View the Full Paper |
