The Paris OECD-IMF Workshop on Real Estate Price Indexes: Conclusions and Future Directions

The paper summarizes the main ideas suggested in OECD-IMF Workshop on Real Estate Price Indexes which was held in Paris, November 6-7, 2006. The paper discusses possible uses and target indexes for real estate price indexes and notes that a major problem is that it is not possible to exactly match the quality of dwelling units over time due to the fact that the housing stock changes in quality due to renovations and depreciation. Four alternative methods for constructing real estate price indexes are discussed: the repeat sales model; the use of assessment information along with property sale information; stratification methods and hedonic methods. The paper notes that the typical hedonic regression method may suffer from specification bias and suggests a way forward. Problems with the user cost method for pricing the services of owner occupied housing are also discussed.Real estate price indexes; housing, index number theory; hedonic regression techniques; repeat sales method; system of national accounts; user costs;

How the commercial real estate boom undid the banks

Real property ; Construction industry ; Regional economics

The EnTrak system : supporting energy action planning via the Internet

Recent energy policy is designed to foster better energy efficiency and assist with the deployment of clean energy systems, especially those derived from renewable energy sources. To attain the envisaged targets will require action at all levels and effective collaboration between disparate groups (e.g. policy makers, developers, local authorities, energy managers, building designers, consumers etc) impacting on energy and environment. To support such actions and collaborations, an Internet-enabled energy information system called 'EnTrak' was developed. The aim was to provide decision-makers with information on energy demands, supplies and impacts by sector, time, fuel type and so on, in support of energy action plan formulation and enactment. This paper describes the system structure and capabilities of the EnTrak system

An Analysis of the Strenghts and Weaknesses of the Turkish Real Estate Market

Real estate is one of the foremost and traditional investments for Turkish household. In addition to this traditional demand, it has also observed that Turkish real estate market becomes one of the popular investment destination for foreign investors. 2003-2007 period would be accepted as the boom period for Turkish economy in general and real estate sector in specific. Although there are considerable opportunities in the market, both Turkish economy and real estate sector suffer important structural problems. Hence, the objective assesment for the Turkish real estate market requires a costbenefit analysis. In this paper, the author is attempting to reach an objective approach presenting both strong and also weak sides of market. The critical point is current deficiencies of the market may result negative impacts on further development. As a solution, we suggest that Real Estate Regulation and Supervision Agency should be established as a new government agency. To our view, primary expectation of this agency is to issue regulations/standards for real estate brokerage/ marketing/appraisal,and also housing finance to enhance consumer protection, public interest and market efficiency.Turkish real estate market, consumer protection in real estate, real estate appraisal, Real Estate Regulation and Supervision Agency

Commercial real estate return distributions: a review of literature and empirical evidence

This paper review the literature on the distribution of commercial real estate returns. There is growing evidence that the assumption of normality in returns is not safe. Distributions are found to be peaked, fat-tailed and, tentatively, skewed. There is some evidence of compound distributions and non-linearity. Public traded real estate assets (such as property company or REIT shares) behave in a fashion more similar to other common stocks. However, as in equity markets, it would be unwise to assume normality uncritically. Empirical evidence for UK real estate markets is obtained by applying distribution fitting routines to IPD Monthly Index data for the aggregate index and selected sub-sectors. It is clear that normality is rejected in most cases. It is often argued that observed differences in real estate returns are a measurement issue resulting from appraiser behaviour. However, unsmoothing the series does not assist in modelling returns. A large proportion of returns are close to zero. This would be characteristic of a thinly-traded market where new information arrives infrequently. Analysis of quarterly data suggests that, over longer trading periods, return distributions may conform more closely to those found in other asset markets. These results have implications for the formulation and implementation of a multi-asset portfolio allocation strategy

Exploring Net Benefit Maximization: Conservation Easements and the Public-Private Interface

Gustanski and Wright talk about conservation easements and the public-private interface. The ease of application across varied lands coupled with the financial and tax-associated benefits of conservation easements have driven the popularity of their use in conserving private lands across the US. Conservation easements typically require sizeable public funding resources, which are provided through either direct public expenditures via diverse public programs established to promote the conservation of land or through tax benefits

Risk and return of open-end real estate funds : the German case

Open-end real estate funds (so called “Offene Immobilienfonds”) play a major role in the German market for securitised real estate investments. Such funds are pools of money from many investors, which are invested in real estate by special investment management companies. This study seeks to identify the risk and return profile of this investment vehicle (before and after income taxes), to compare them with those of other major asset classes, and to provide implications for their appropriate role in a mixed-asset portfolio. Addition-ally, an overview of the institutional architecture and role of German open-end real estate funds is given. Empirical evidence suggests that the financial characteristics of open-end real estate funds are in many respects similar to those reported for direct real estate invest-ments. Accordingly, German open-end real estate funds qualify for medium and long-term investment horizons, rather than for shorter holding periods