Creating a Constant-Quality Index for Small Multifamily Rental Housing

Researchers since the early 1960s have constructed constant-quality price indices (CQIs) for single-family dwellings. This paper, however, applies the methodology to construct CQIs for a different property type - small multifamily rental housing with two to four units (MRH) - so that price changes can be measured. Over the period 1983 through 1988, MRH prices increased 70% in Connecticut, but decreased nearly 65% in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. These locations and the sample period are chosen because Connecticut's economy boomed, while Baton Rouge's collapsed; as well, Congress debated and passsed the 1986 Tax Reform Act (TR). TRA affected both regions' MRH prices, but other factors contributed to price changes, also.

Aggregation Bias in Price Indices for Multi-Family Rental Properties

This article examines aggregation bias in price index construction. Specifically, we test whether changes in values of 2- to 4-unit, multi-family rental housing properties vary systematically in the same market across property size. Moreover, we examine the time trend differences across locations within a geographic region for various sized multiplex properties, as well as investigate how size should be measured. Results suggest that absolute price changes are significantly different across property size, as determined by living area, and that the time trend does not differ across locations within a geographic region. Further research using this methodology is recommended for other property types.

Contagion and REIT Stock Prices

This article investigates the contagious movement of real estate investment trust (REIT) stock prices in response to real estate news related to financial institutions' real estate portfolios. The basic hypothesis is that because real estate assets are traded infrequently, the market has incomplete information about their true value; thus, REIT stock prices react negatively to announcements of poorly performing real estate portfolios of financial institutions. Consistent with the hypothesis, significantly negative reactions to these announcements are found for a portfolio of sixty-nine REITs during the real estate crisis of 1989--91.

An Empirical Investigation of Federal Wetlands Regulation and Flood Delineation: Implications for Residential Property Owners

Since the early 1970s, the federal government has undertaken extensive efforts to stem the loss of wetlands by regulating the use of land. This paper investigates the extent to which residential property owners are affected by federal wetlands regulation, by presenting an empirical investigation of such economic consequences. Results suggest that because of the Supreme Court?s holding in United States v. Riverside Bayview Homes, Inc., sale prices of properties located in a wetlands area were discounted nearly eight percent, even after controlling for some sample properties being flood delineated.

Liquidity and the drivers of search, due diligence and transaction times for UK commercial real estate investments

Trading commercial real estate involves a process of exchange that is costly and which occurs over an extended and uncertain period of time. This has consequences for the performance and risk of real estate investments. Most research on transaction times has occurred for residential rather than commercial real estate. We study the time taken to transact commercial real estate assets in the UK using a sample of 578 transactions over the period 2004 to 2013. We measure average time to transact from a buyer and seller perspective, distinguishing the search and due diligence phases of the process, and we conduct econometric analysis to explain variation in due diligence times between assets. The median time for purchase of real estate from introduction to completion was 104 days and the median time for sale from marketing to completion was 135 days. There is considerable variation around these times and results suggest that some of this variation is related to market state, type and quality of asset, and type of participants involved in the transaction. Our findings shed light on the drivers of liquidity at an individual asset level and can inform models that quantify the impact of uncertain time on market on real estate investment risk

Only the best? Exploring cross-border investor preferences in US gateway cities

Despite heady growth in cross-border investment into commercial real estate over recent decades, there are few studies that examine differences in investment preferences between domestic and cross-border investors at a micro level. We address the gap by examining the characteristics of assets acquired by cross border investors in six major US metro areas, comparing them with the purchases made by US investors in those same areas. Our study uses data on more than 67 500 transactions recorded by Real Capital Analytics (RCA) over the period from Q1 2003 to Q3 2016. As well as examining cross-border investors in aggregate, we isolate and examine purchases by investors from each of the four principal source nations for cross-border real estate investment in these cities. This is important since treating cross-border investors as a single group may obscure important differences between them. We employ multilevel logit techniques and we find across a number of specifications that cross-border investors prefer larger assets, newer assets and CBD locations regardless of nationality. However, temporal and sectoral patterns of investment, as well as evidence for return chasing behavior, vary with the nationality of investor being studied

Exercise and Polycystic Ovary Syndrome.

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a complex endocrinopathy affecting both the metabolism and reproductive system of women of reproductive age. Prevalence ranges from 6.1-19.9% depending on the criteria used to give a diagnosis. PCOS accounts for approximately 80% of women with anovulatory infer-tility, and causes disruption at various stages of the reproductive axis. Evidence suggests lifestyle modification should be the first line of therapy for women with PCOS. Several studies have examined the impact of exercise interventions on reproductive function, with results indicating improvements in menstrual and/or ovulation frequency following exercise. Enhanced insulin sensitivity underpins the mechanisms of how exercise restores reproductive function. Women with PCOS typically have a cluster of metabolic abnormalities that are risk factors for CVD. There is irrefutable evidence that exercise mitigates CVD risk factors in women with PCOS. The mechanism by which exercise improves many CVD risk factors is again associated with improved insulin sensitivity and decreased hyperinsulinemia. In addition to cardiometabolic and reproductive complications, PCOS has been associated with an increased prevalence of mental health disorders. Exercise improves psychological well-being in women with PCOS, dependent on certain physiological factors. An optimal dose-response relationship to exercise in PCOS may not be feasible because of the highly individualised characteristics of the disorder. Guidelines for PCOS suggest at least 150 min of physical activity per week. Evidence confirms that this should form the basis of any clinician or healthcare professional prescription