The four articles presented in this special issue of the International Real Estate Review were prepared for and presented at an international real estate symposium organized by DePaul University, which took place on 3-4 July 2012 at the Grand Hyatt Hotel, Macao SAR China. Each paper subsequently went through the typical review process of the International Real Estate Review. The four papers cover a wide range of topics, from the role of public markets in international real estate diversification, to international evidence on REIT (Real Estate Investment Trust) market anomalies, to house price inflation in China, and to evidence on the relative performance of private equity real estate joint ventures. The papers presented here generated spirited discussions at the conference. Those attending the conference offered helpful comments and suggestions.