Heterogeneous Agents and the Indifference Pricing of Property Index Linked Swaps

Swap spreads predicted by the traditional risk-neutral valuation models are much lower than the quoted market spreads for property index linked swaps (Patel and Pereira, Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, 36:5–21, 2008). This paper attempts to develop a utility indifference-based model for evaluating the reservation spreads of swap receivers and payers based on the principle of expected wealth utility equivalence rather than the traditional risk-neutral argument. Under the proposed model framework, this paper addresses the determination of the swap spreads. When the incompleteness of real estate markets and heterogeneity of representative agents are taken into consideration, it is shown that the agents’ risk preferences and heterogeneous beliefs about expected future property returns are the remarkable determinants for the swap spreads. Our model also identifies market power and the settlement rules in the event of counterparty default as important factors in determining the swap spreads. Our model provides a possible interpretation for the difference between the spreads predicted by the traditional models and the actual market spreads.     

A Quarterly Transactions-based Index of Institutional Real Estate Investment Performance and Movements in Supply and Demand

This article presents a methodology for producing a quarterly transactions-based index (TBI) of property-level investment performance for U.S. institutional real estate. Indices are presented for investment periodic total returns and capital appreciation (or price-changes) for the major property types included in the NCREIF Property Index. These indices are based on transaction prices to avoid appraisal-based sources of index “smoothing” and lagging bias. In addition to producing variable-liquidity indices, this approach employs the Fisher-Gatzlaff-Geltner-Haurin (Real Estate Econ., 31: 269–303, 2003) methodology to produce separate indices tracking movements on the demand and supply sides of the investment market, including a “constant-liquidity” (demand side) index. Extensions of Bayesian noise filtering techniques developed by Gatzlaff and Geltner (Real Estate Finance, 15: 7–22, 1998) and Geltner and Goetzmann (J. Real Estate Finance Econ., 21: 5–21, 2000) are employed to allow development of quarterly frequency, market segment specific indices. The hedonic price model used in the indices is based on an extension of the Clapp and Giacotto (J. Am. Stat. Assoc., 87: 300–306, 1992) “assessed value method,” using a NCREIF-reported recent appraised value of each transacting property as the composite “hedonic” variable, thus allowing time-dummy coefficients to represent the difference each period between the (lagged) appraisals and the transaction prices. The index could also be used to produce a mass appraisal of the NCREIF property database each quarter, a byproduct of which would be the ability to provide transactions price based “automated valuation model” estimates of property value for each NCREIF property each quarter. Detailed results are available at .     

Marketing Period Risk in a Portfolio Context: Comment and Extension

This paper re-examines and extends the findings of Bond et al., Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, 34, 447–461, (2007) who consider the theoretical model of Lin and Vandell, Real Estate Economics, 35, 291–330, (2007) to determine the extent to which individual real estate asset return characteristics caused by marketing period risk disappear in a large, diversified real estate portfolio. The effects of marketing period risk are found to disappear in the limit with growth in the size of the portfolio, with ex ante variance approaching ex post variance, but only if the portfolio consists of nonsystematic risk alone, in which case both approach zero. The marketing period risk factor (MPRF), representing the ratio of ex ante to ex post variance, however, does not in general approach zero in the limit, in fact could increase or decrease depending upon the illiquidity characteristics of the individual assets and the magnitude and degree of correlation among individual property returns and marketing periods. The results suggest that even large institutional real estate portfolio managers must consider the illiquidity present in their portfolios and cannot assume that its effect will be diversified away.

Repeat Sales Index for Thin Markets

The repeat sales model is commonly used to construct reliable house price indices in absence of individual characteristics of the real estate. Several adaptations of the original model by Bailey et al. (J Am Stat Assoc 58:933–942, 1963) are proposed in literature. They all have in common using a dummy variable approach for measuring price indices. In order to reduce the impact of transaction price noise on the estimates of price indices, Goetzmann (J Real Estate Finance Econ 5:5–53, 1992) used a random walk with drift process for the log price levels instead of the dummy variable approach. The model that is proposed in this article can be interpreted as a generalization of the Goetzmann methodology. We replace the random walk with drift model by a structural time series model, in particular by a local linear trend model in which both the level and the drift parameter can vary over time. An additional variable—the reciprocal of the time between sales—is included in the repeat sales model to deal with the effect of the time between sales on the estimated returns. This approach is robust can be applied in thin markets where relatively few selling prices are available. Contrary to the dummy variable approach, the structural time series model enables prediction of the price level based on preceding and subsequent information, implying that even for particular time periods where no observations are available an estimate of the price level can be provided. Conditional on the variance parameters, an estimate of the price level can be obtained by applying regression in the general linear model with a prior for the price level, generated by the local linear trend model. The variance parameters can be estimated by maximum likelihood. The model is applied to several subsets of selling prices in the Netherlands. Results are compared to standard repeat sales models, including the Goetzmann model.     

Energy Factors,Leasing Structure and the Market Price of Office Buildings in the U.S.

The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics - This paper presents an empirical analysis of the relation between energy factor markets, leasing structures, and the transaction prices of office...     

Asymmetric Properties of Office Rent Adjustment

In this paper we use an error correction model for understanding the changes in real office rents for a panel of 15 U.S. MSA’s over the period 1990-2007. We find that office rents in all cities react positively to a rise in office employment and lagged rent changes, while lagged deviations from equilibrium rent levels exhibit a slow and partial adjustment over time. Given the non-negativity constraint of vacancy rates we extend the basic model by examining whether rents react to positive changes in employment conditional on the vacancy rate level. Our results show that office rents react significantly stronger to increases in employment when vacancy rates are below the long-term average. We also repeat the analysis for clusters of cities based on similarities in rent and employment dynamics using multi dimensional scaling. The cluster results confirm the overall conclusions and show that our results are not solely valid for the full panel of cities.     

Asymmetric Adjustment in the City of London Office Market

Earlier estimates of the behavior of the City of London office market are extended by considering a longer time series of data, covering two full cycles, and by explicitly modeling asymmetric space market responses to employment and supply shocks. A long run structural model linking real rental levels, office-based employment and the supply of office space is estimated and then rental adjustment processes are modeled using an error correction model framework. Rental adjustment is seen to be asymmetric, depending both on the direction of the supply and demand shocks and on the state of the space market at the time of the shock. Vacancy adjustment does not display statistically significant asymmetries. There is also a supply adjustment equation. Two three-equation systems, one with symmetric rental adjustment and the other with asymmetric adjustment, are subjected to positive and negative shocks to employment. These illustrate differences in the properties of the two systems.     

2018 Real Estate Finance & Investment Symposium

The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics - In October 2018, the Real Estate Finance & Investment Symposium, sponsored and organized by the University of Cambridge, the University of...     

Local Office Rent Dynamics

This study applies rent adjustment models for ten major European office markets. We capture long-run equilibrium relationships of demand and supply variables and their short-term corrections in a two equation error correction model. We test whether the local nature of office markets makes a model based on national economics inaccurate if local and national markets do not move in tandem. For this we employ a unique dataset, which includes both disaggregated and national variables to model changes in real prime rents for a group of premier and second tier office market cities across Europe for the period 1990–2006. We explicitly compare results that are derived from models that include different levels of geographic aggregation. Results of the two stage error correction model indicate that international office rents adjust to short-run changes in office related economic activity, lagged rent changes, and to the deviation of rents from their long-run values. At the same time our results offer no proof that error correction mechanism models for office rents improve significantly by specifying economic growth figures beyond the national aggregated level for the cities included in our analysis.     

The makings of an information leader: the intraday price discovery process for individual stocks in the DJIA

The main purpose of this paper is to construct an intraday arbitrage price series for each stock in the DJIA using information in the Diamond Trust Fund ETF. We then compute the information shares (Hasbrouck in J Finan 50(4):1175–1199, 1995) for the actual versus the arbitrage prices for each stock. While previous literature documents that ETFs lead stock indices in information origination, we find that some firms are “information leaders” in that the information share that comes from the stock price is larger than that which comes from the ETF-related arbitrage price. Further analysis is conducted to uncover the firm-specific factors that are related to a stock’s role in information generation.     

Technological Change as Reflected in Hotel Property Prices

This paper investigates the effects of age on the sale prices of hotel real estate. Value erosion of commercial property due to the passage of time may be offset by renovation, although substantial follow-on investment usually occurs several years following construction. Obsolescence produces value losses during the post-construction period prior to new investment that result from technological change (Colwell & Ramsland, Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, 8(1), 47–63, 2003). A hedonic model is specified to allow age to measure the effects of obsolescence in hotel prices. Although the long-run obsolescence rate for hotel properties of 1.93%/year aligns closely with the rate estimated elsewhere for retail properties, the path of obsolescence through time shows some marked departures. Contrary to the theory and the empirical results from the retail real estate market, hotel prices do not reveal much more obsolescence in the years immediately following construction than later. Also, the age and sale price relation turns positive nearing the third decade of the lives of hotels indicating a vintage effect. Thus, a V-shaped obsolescence function emerges that either may be explained by a fixed-cost renovation expenditure function or a vintage effect produced by the demand for surviving assets. A series of tests of hotel brand-specific obsolescence rates reveals considerable variation in these rates among seasoned properties, perhaps an indication of a convex renovation expenditure function and sequential follow-on investment.     

Did Real Estate Professionals Anticipate the 2007-2008 Financial Crisis? Evidence from Insider Trading in the REITs

The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics - This research examines whether real estate professionals detected the property bubble and foresaw the consequent financial crisis of 2007-2008. By...     

The Impact of TOM on Prices in the US Housing Market

The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics - Search theory shows that real property prices and marketing durations are simultaneously determined and positively related. Yet, empirical studies...     

Robbing the Bank: Non-recourse Lending and Asset Prices

The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics - We investigate the market prices of assets in fixed supply whose purchase is typically financed through non-recourse loans. The largest and most...     

Paying for a Name? Comparing the Performance of Franchised Real Estate Brokerage Firms

The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics - This paper compares the relative performance of franchised and independent real estate brokerage firms. One problem that arises when comparing the...     

Preferences of Institutional Investors in Commercial Real Estate

The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics - In this paper we analyze market segmentation by firm size in the commercial real estate transaction process. Using novel micro-level data, we look...     

Neutral Property Taxation Under Uncertainty

In a framework where no uncertainty arises, Arnott (J Publ Econ Theor 7:27–50, 2005) investigates a neutral property taxation policy that will not affect a landowner’s choices of capital intensity and timing of development. We investigate the same issue, but allow rents on structures to be stochastic over time. We assume that a regulator implements taxation on capital, vacant land, and post-development property so as to expropriate a certain ratio of pre-tax site value as well as to achieve neutrality. We find that the optimal taxation policy is to tax capital and subsidize properties before and after development. We also investigate how this optimal policy changes in response to changes in several exogenous forces related to demand and supply conditions of the real estate market.

Book Reviews

Book reviews in this article: Cases in Business Finance. By Z. Lew Melnyk and Charles L. Barngrover. Principles of Financial Management Ward S. Curran. Program Budgeting and Benefit-Cost Analysis, Cases, Text and Readings. By Harley H. Hinrichs and Graeme M. Taylor The Management of Capital Expenditures. By Robert G. Murdick and Donald D. Deming. The Role of Private Placements in Corporate Finance. By Eli Shapiro and Charles R. Wolf. Turnaround Management. Edited by Joseph Eisenberg. Welcome to Our Conglomerate-You're Fired! By Isadore Barmash. Banking Markets and Financial Institutions. Edited by Thomas G. Gies and Vincent P. Apilado. Economics of Financial Institutions and Markets. By Paul F. Smith. Financial Institutions and Markets. By Murray E. Polakoff and others. Money and Banking. By John M. Culbertson. Insurance: Its Theory and Practice in the United States. Sixth edition. By Albert H. Mowbray, Ralph H. Blanchard, and C. Arthur Williams, Jr. Risk Management and Insurance. Second Edition. By C. Arthur Williams, Jr. and Richard M. Heins. The Behavior of Interest Rates: The Application of the Efficient Market Model to U.S. Treasury Bills. By Richard Roll. An Introduction to Risk and Return from Common Stocks. By Richard A. Brealey. Security Prices in a Competitive Market: More about Risk and Return from Common Stocks. By Richard A. Brealey. Investment and Portfolio Analysis. By Haim Levy and Marshall Sarnat. Investments: Analysis and Management. By Jack Clark Francis. The Stock Markets. Revised edition. By Gilbert W. Cooke. Personal Financial Management. By David A. West and Glenn L. Wood. Personal Investing. By Wilbur W. Widicus, Jr. and Thomas E. Stitzel. Principles of Real Estate Law. By Edna Hebard and Gerald S. Meisel. Principles of Real Estate Management. Tenth Edition. By James C. Downs, Jr. Real Estate-Principles and Practices. Fourth Edition. By Maurice A. Uiiger. Real Estate Securities and Syndication, A Workbook. Edited by Stephen E. Roulac. Case Studies in Property Development. By Stephen E. Roulac. Real Estate Syndication Digest 1972, Principles and Applications. By Stephen E. Roulac. Real Estate Venture Analysis. Proceedings of a session chaired by Stephen E. Roulac. International Economic Integration. Edited by P. Robson. International Managerial Finance. By J. Fred Weston and Bart W. Sorge. Consumer Theory. By H. A. John Green. Fiscal Federalism. By Wallace E. Oates. Game Theory—A Nontechnical Introduction. By Morton D. Davis. Monetary Economics, Readings on Current Issues. By William E. Gibson and George G. Kaufman.     

How Big of a Lemons Market is the Secondary Market for Private Equity Real Estate Limited Partnerships?

We find that shares of real estate limited partnerships sell at substantial discounts to net asset values (NAV) and these discounts are influenced by factors associated with agency costs and unrealized gains. Our study builds on previous work by Barber (1996) by examining a much longer time period (1994-2013), including additional control variables, and utilizing Tobit estimation instead of OLS, which we find superior. We find much larger effects of unrealized capital gains than Barber (1996). Factors that reduce fund managers’ freedom to take actions that might reduce shareholder returns such as leverage and high dividend payments reduce discounts.

     

Housing Quality in the Forward Contracts Market

Developers often conduct forward sales (or presales) before building completion to relieve financial risk and burden. However, there are worries that housing units sold in this way will turn out to be substandard because developers, who have been paid for the unfinished units, may have incentives to cut costs by lowering the quality. This is a typical moral hazard problem. Nonetheless, forward sales have been very popular in some Asian cities such as Hong Kong, Singapore, and Taiwan. A plausible explanation is that the market has efficiently adjusted the forward price for this potential quality problem according to developers’ reputations. This paper aims to theoretically explain and empirically test (1) whether reputation is reflected in forward prices and (2) whether the expected quality level matches with the actual quality level. Using the forward and spot sales data of the Hong Kong real estate market, we found that even though housing quality was not observable during presales, the market was able to capitalize developers’ reputations into forward prices accurately. This suggests that the optimal strategy for developers is to stick to the quality level implied by their reputations. A paper submitted to Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics. A Special Issue for the 2005 NUS-HKU Symposium on Real Estate Research.