The 2014 Maastricht-NUS-MIT International Real Estate Finance & Economics Symposium: Editors’ Introduction to the Special Issue

This is the Editors’ Introduction to the special issue of the Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics. The issue includes nine papers presented at the 2014 Maastricht-NUS-MIT (MNM) Symposium on International Real Estate Finance and Economics, held at Maastricht University in September 2014. This Introduction briefly describes the articles included in the special issue. The papers cover a broad range of topics

Insight of Poverty Income Line as a Determinant of Prudent Home Ownership in the 10th Malaysian Plan

Purpose – This paper will evaluate income line and relate same to housing affordability by the low income earners and the Malaysian vision 2020 mission of attaining a fully developed nation status vide sustainable development indices in the 10th Malaysian housing policy plan. The number of slum dwellers in the world has increased from 715 million in 1991 to 913 million in 2001, and to 998 million in 2005. Projections to 2020 suggest that the world will have up to 1.4 billion slum dwellers. Certainly, if the number of slum dwellers is increasing annually, it seems rather that best practiced housing policy is still deficient (United Nations Human development program 2006, p.16). Government officials are limited in the policy supported actions they are able to take in supporting the housing needs and aspirations of their citizenry. Design/Approach – This paper analyses and sieve ideas from housing programs and sustainable developments. It equally draws criteria which shall be used as an interim assessment of the policy proposals that will pave way for the low income earners to own their homes. Findings - The plan reserve policy programs for home ownership, strategies and programs that shall enable the country to emerge as a high-income nation. The development programs were tuned to the six National Key Results Areas, outlined in the Government Transformation Program, the National Key Economic program Areas of the Economic Transformation Program and the strategic economic reforms in the New Economic Model. The Plan details strategies towards a more focused role for the Government as a regulator and a catalyst for home ownership while upholding the principles of 1 Malaysia: People First, Performance Now to ensure effective delivery of service. But the poverty level has shoot from 3.8 to about 31% as suggested by Jayanath Appundurai. Equally, the RM800 set as the transition line from poverty is not sufficient; RM1886 is proposed to be more reasonable to meet the eight basic necessities. Keywords: Malaysia, Home ownership, Poverty income line and the new economic mode

Physical and Socio Economic Affordability Elements that Regulate formal low cost housing tenure in Bauchi Metropolis

Purpose: The current practice housing policies of Nigeria did not highlight on the affordability of formal low cost houses. Low income earners don’t have sufficient income to buy a calorie of foods and meet basic necessities like clothing, rent, fuel, utilities, transport, communications, medical expenses, education, and on a broader sense, housing. Objectives of this study were (i) to investigate the current practices of housing policies in Bauchi Nigeria; (ii) to evaluate the affordability elements in Bauchi Nigeria, (iii) to study the relationship among the FLCH affordability elements in Bauchi Nigeria. Methodology employed includes descriptive statistics and Pearson correlation. Findings: The study found that there are no laws, sections or guidelines regulating the affairs of formal low cost housing. The design does not reflect user need; it did not conform to their culture, family background and size. No provision for public participation in the policy documents. Formal low cost houses are located at the peripheries of the town outside trekking distances which repel beneficiaries because of the awkward location. Residents have higher number of defendants, lower income and lower qualification. This study found that design, location, participation, highlight on affordability and family issues have prominent impact on affordability and hence be incorporated in policy document. It can therefore be clinch that formal low cost houses in Bauchi, are not affordable. Conclusively, these affordability elements should be upheld to ensure sustainable formal low cost housing affordability policy for the low income groups. The physical and socio-economic elements are the catalyst in the housing provision aspect. These elements can bridge the wide fissure being the basic features, essentials and the fundamentals of a good policy. Keywords: Affordability elements, formal low cost housing, housing policy issues, house ownershi

Investigating Housing Affordability Pursuant to Sustainable Development Mechanisms and the New Malaysian Housing Policy

Purpose – This paper will assess housing affordability and the Malaysian vision 2020 mission of attaining a fully developed nation status vide sustainable development mechanisms in the new Malaysian housing policy plan.Methodology/Design/Approach – This is a policy analysis paper which sieve ideas from housing policy and sustainable developments. It equally draws criteria which shall be used as an interim assessment of the policy proposals and programmes.Findings - The plan contains new policy directions, strategies and programmes that shall enable the country to emerge as a high-income nation. The development programmes were tuned to the six National Key Results Areas, outlined in the Government Transformation Programme, the National Key Economic programme Areas of the Economic Transformation Programme and the strategic economic reforms in the New Economic Model. The Plan details strategies towards a more focused role for the Government as a regulator and a catalyst while upholding the principles of 1 Malaysia: People First, Performance Now to ensure effective delivery of service.Originality/Value – This paper suggest a substantial and assessment of Malaysian new housing policy strategies and programmes. The subject matter relates to the national housing policies, systems and strategies set to ameliorate the impact of house deficit and forge the need for more affordable housing stock. Keywords Malaysia, Housing policy, Housing affordability, Sustainability indicators and mechanism

The wealth effects of REIT property acquisitions and dispositions: the creditors’ perspective

Prior studies of REIT property transaction activity focus on shareholder wealth effects. This study examines the effects of property acquisitions, dispositions, and overall trading activity on unsecured bond spreads, credit rating changes, and rating outlooks using a sample of the listed equity REITs in the U.S. We find that active property trading in general decreases creditors’ wealth, but this negative impact is significantly mitigated for REITs with positive NAV premiums and when REITs use sale proceeds to pay down debt after the transactions. We also find that property transactions followed by an increased geographic focus significantly increase bond yield spreads and decrease the probability of credit rating upgrades

Inhibitory effects of bisbenzylisoquinolines on synthesis of the inflammatory cytokines interleukin-1 and tumour necrosis factor-alpha

Synthesis of IL-1β and TNFα by human monocytesmacrophages was significantly inhibited by eleven bisbenzylisoquinolines and one half-molecule (benzylisoquinoline), with IC50 values in the μM range. The results indicate that these compounds may have value in the therapy of human diseases where these inflammatory cytokines have a central role in pathogenesis

Erratum to: Introduction to the Special Issue

The papers, “Model Stability and the Subprime Mortgage Crisis,” by X. An, Y. Deng, E. Rosenblatt and V.W. Yao and “Pricing Inefficiencies in Private Real Estate Markets Using Total Return Swaps,” by C. Lizieri, G. Marcato, P. Ogden and A. Baum were scheduled to be part of the special issue. Instead, the papers were published in Volume 45, Number 3, 2012, pages 545 and 774, respectively

Increasing Colonoscopy Compliance Using a Blood-Based Risk Assessment Test for Colorectal Cancer

ColonSentry® is a minimally invasive, blood-based risk assessment test for colorectal cancer. The test is used to increase patient compliance with colonoscopy. Many physicians have inquired about the incidence of non-malignant lesions found in patients after colonoscopy prompted by an increased risk score on the ColonSentry test. Here we report on the colonoscopy results of five patients with increased ColonSentry risk scores. Of those five patients, three were determined to have polyps, one of which was pre-malignant