Real Estate Investment Activity Research Articles

Influence of the global environment on capital flows in the London Office market

PurposeThe London office market is a major destination of international real estate capital and arguably the epicentre of international real estate investment over the past decade. However, the increase in global uncertainties in recent years due to socio-economic and political trends highlights the need for more insights into the behaviour of international real estate capital flows. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the influence of the global and domestic environment on international real estate investment activities within the London office market over the period 2007–2017.Design/methodology/approachThis study adopts an auto-regressive distributed lag approach using the real capital analytics (RCA) international real estate investment data. The RCA data analyses quarterly cross-border investment transactions within the central London office market for the period 2007–2017.FindingsThe study provides insights on the critical differences in the influence of the domestic and global environment on cross-border investment activities in this office market, specifically highlighting the significance of the influence of the global environment in the long run. In the short run, the influence of factors reflective of both the domestic and international environment are important indicating that international capital flows into the London office market is contextualised by the interaction of different factors.Originality/valueThe authors provide a holistic study of the influence of both the domestic and international environment on cross-border investment activities in the London office market, providing more insights on the behaviour of global real estate capital flows.

Community Land Trusts (CLTs) as a strategy to promote affordable housing in California

In an effort to combat systemic racism in land use planning and inequitable real estate investment activities that have oppressed the working class, low-income communities are finding creative ways to build community wealth. As exorbitant rents push families out of their homes and neighborhoods, grassroots groups and communities of color are pursuing Community Land Trusts (CLTs) to promote community stewardship of the land and to create access to permanently affordable housing. While a majority of CLTs focus on fostering permanently affordable housing, there is great flexibility in the kinds of land uses that CLTs can pursue, including for instance, agricultural projects. In California, grassroots organizations such as THRIVE Santa Ana and the Oakland Community Land Trust (OakCLT) are putting the CLT model into practice to respond to their communities’ needs and pave the way for disinvested communities to secure housing access.

Are Government Owned Investment Funds Created Equal? Evidence from Sovereign Wealth Fund Real Estate Acquisitions

Sovereign Wealth Funds (SWFs) are an institutional investor class about which relatively little is known. Even though they have trillions of dollars in assets under management, their (typically) highly secretive nature renders them difficult to analyze in an academic context. We utilize transactional data from the Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute to provide the first academic analysis of SWF real estate investment activity of which we are aware. To better understand this growing investor class, we compare SWFs with their most closely related institutional group, public pension funds (PPFs). While both SWFs and PPFs are state owned investment funds, we find SWFs have lower Stone and Truman (2016) best practice scores (based on fund structure, governance, transparency and accountability, and behavior.) Further, while both SWFs and PPFs show increasing levels of cross-border real estate investment, SWFs are significantly more likely than PPFs to invest across international borders. We find the percentage of SWF cross-border real estate investment to be substantially higher than the percentage of SWF cross-border investment in public and private equity documented in other studies. Moreover, in a subsample of acquisitions in the U.S., cross-border real estate investments are in locations with lower capitalization rates than domestic acquisitions for both SWFs and PPFs, and there is no discernable difference in rates across the two fund types, on average.

Residential Real Estate Traders: Returns, Risk and Strategies

Using data from the housing market of Los Angeles County, we show that experienced asset flippers earn sizable abnormal performance with respect to both investments in the U.S. stock market and in a passive mutual fund tracking a representative U.S. REIT index. Abnormal performance is positive even after adjusting returns for a conservative estimate of the additional compensation for the specific risks of local real estate investment activities. Experienced flippers outperform their inexperienced competitors when trading comparable houses over the same time frame, but face decreasing returns to the scale of their asset portfolios.

Real estate investments and financial stability: evidence from regional commercial banks in China

ABSTRACTThe 2008 US subprime mortgage crisis demonstrated how developments in real estate markets can cause instability in the banking sector and raised concerns in many emerging economies with significant real estate development and a rapidly growing commercial banking sector, particularly in China. There is clear evidence that commercial banks in China, especially regional commercial banks, have lent significantly to the real estate sector. The recent slowdown in the housing market in China and the increase in nonperforming loans (NPLs) in China's commercial banking sector motivated us to investigate the connection between real estate markets and banking stability. This paper proposes three testable hypotheses linking the growth of investment in real estate and the stability of regional commercial banks in China, measured by NPLs. Our empirical results reveal a close connection between the growth of investment in real estate and the NPLs among regional commercial banks, and its sensitivity to real estate market cycles. When real estate market activity declines, our results suggest, regional commercial banks can find themselves in trouble if they have significant exposure to one type of (real estate) asset. In addition, we find that regional bank competition plays a critical role in defining the relationship between bank stability and real estate investment activity.

Cross-Border Investment and Firm Liquidity

Executive Summary. We investigate the influence of interjurisdictional, geographic-based information barriers on the financial transparency and liquidity of real estate organizations across the Asia-Pacific region. Given both the unique regulatory distribution requirements across this industry and the capital-intensive nature of most real estate investment activities, firms within this market sector face unique, substantive financing concerns. As a consequence, financial transparency and liquidity are of increased importance to firms within this industry. Consistent with this paradigm, we find strong evidence that Asia-Pacific real estate firms facing enhanced levels of political risk and uncertainty are characterized by higher information barriers, and exhibit reduced financial market liquidity as measured by wider bid-ask spreads.

The Determinants of International Commercial Real Estate Investment

We examine the determinants of international commercial real estate investment using a unique set of panel data series for 47 countries worldwide, covering the period from 2000 to 2009. We explore how different socio-economic, demographic and institutional characteristics affect commercial real estate investment activity by determining both cross-sectional and time-series estimators, running augmented random effect panel regressions. We provide evidence that economic growth, rapid urbanization and compelling demographics attract real estate investment, and also demonstrate that a lack of transparency in the legal framework, administrative burdens of doing real estate business, socio-cultural challenges and political instabilities reduce international real estate allocations.

The Determinants of International Commercial Real Estate Investment

We examine the determinants of international commercial real estate investment using a unique set of panel data series for 47 countries worldwide, covering the period from 2000 to 2009. We explore how different socio-economic, demographic and institutional characteristics affect commercial real estate investment activity by determining both cross-sectional and time-series estimators, running augmented random effect panel regressions. We provide evidence that economic growth, rapid urbanization and compelling demographics attract real estate investment, and also demonstrate that a lack of transparency in the legal framework, administrative burdens of doing real estate business, socio-cultural challenges and political instabilities reduce international real estate allocations.

The Attractiveness of 66 Countries for Institutional Real Estate Investments: A Composite Index Approach

We address the attractiveness of worldwide 66 countries for institutional real estate investments by the construction of a composite index. For the index' composition, we refer to the results of prior research on the parameters determining real estate investment activity on an aggregated country level. Our index reveals a country ranking that correlates reasonably with commercial real estate investments as we prove with back-tests over six years. We increase the transparency of market variables for decision-making in global real estate asset allocation and provide the key determinants that shape national real estate markets. The results highlight the strengths and weaknesses of developed, transition and emerging economies and provide guidelines for political improvements to attract international capital to spur real estate investment activity.

The Attractiveness of 66 Countries for Institutional Real Estate Investments

Executive Summary. This paper uses a composite indexto examine the attractiveness of 66 countries worldwidefor institutional real estate investments. The indexconstruction is based on the parameters found in priorresearch that determine real estate investment activity onan aggregated country level. The index reveals a countryranking that correlates reasonably with commercial realestate investments, as proven by back-tests over six years.The findings increase the transparency of market variablesfor decision-making in global real estate asset allocationand provide the key determinants that shape realestate markets within countries. The results also highlightthe strengths and weaknesses of developed, emerging,and challenged economies.

The Attractiveness of 66 Countries for Institutional Real Estate Investments: A Composite Index Approach

We address the attractiveness of 66 countries worldwide for institutional real estate investments through the construction of a composite index. For the index’s composition, we refer to the results of prior research on the parameters determining real estate investment activity on an aggregated country level. Our index reveals a country ranking that correlates reasonably with commercial real estate investments, as proven with back-tests over six years. We increase the transparency of market variables for decision-making in global real estate asset allocation and provide the key determinants that shape national real estate markets. The results highlight the strengths and weaknesses of developed, developing and emerging economies and provide guidelines for political improvements to attract international capital to spur real estate investment activity.

The Attractiveness of 66 Countries for Institutional Real Estate Investments: A Composite Index Approach

We address the attractiveness of 66 countries worldwide for institutional real estate investments by the construction of a composite index. For the index_ composition we refer to the results of prior research papers that investigate the parameters determining real estate investment activity on an aggregated level. We conceptualise a composite index and receive a global country ranking that correlates reasonably with investment activity running a back-test over six years. We increase the transparency of market variables for decision-making in global asset allocation and provide the key determinants that shape national real estate markets. The results highlight the strengths and weaknesses of developed, transition and emerging economies and provide guidelines for political improvements and for institutional investors_ country allocations. We finally compare the attractiveness of the United Kingdom, Germany and Italy for real estate investing.

The Real Estate Investor

This case study chronicles the entrepreneurial and real estate investment activities of a recent Ph.D. graduate in business administration. The protagonist learns that clear focus is necessary for entrepreneurial success and that trust does not mix with entrepreneurship and negotiation. Ethics are sometimes problematic for entrepreneurs.

Institutional Real Estate Investment Practices: Swedish and United States Experiences

In recent years, institutional real estate investment activity has experienced major changes in many countries throughout the world. In Sweden, large-scale investment projects have increasingly been dominated by several major financial institutions. As in other places, real estate investment analysis in Sweden has undergone considerable change in terms of rigor, focus, and perspective. This study is the first effort ever to systematically assess the current situation in the market for commercial real estate in Sweden. The study presents the results of a comprehensive 1988 survey of over 200 commercial real estate investment participants in Sweden including insurance companies, pension funds, construction firms, property management firms, and investment companies. The survey results are compared with results reported in the United States and elsewhere within the corporate and real estate capital budgeting literatures. The results reported here can thus be compared cross-sectionally as well as over time acr...