Real Estate

Course goals

After completing this course, students are able to:

• Discuss the interaction between actors, institutions and markets in general and applied to real estate in particular.
• Distinguish and summarize different types of real estate markets and their geographical dimensions.
• Evaluate the way government interventions (such as urban planning) affect the working of real estate markets.
• Analyze specific markets in their geographical setting by using the acquired knowledge.
• Assess and evaluate actual real estate market outcomes such as prices, affordability and vacancies.

Content

Most human activities, such as living, working, learning and relaxing, take place in ‘real estate’ – e.g. homes, schools, offices and shops. Therefore, real estate provision follows the preferences and needs of these human activities. However, the users of real estate are not the only ones who determine where, when, how, and how much real estate is provided, and at what price. Real estate developers, (institutional) investors, banks, housing associations and local authorities play an important and often dominant role in these decisions. They play the game of real estate along different and sometimes conflicting formal and informal rules (i.e. institutions). For us, academics concerned with the spatial distribution of human activities, it is crucial to understand how real estate provision takes place. In this module, we address and reflect on this topic from an institutional/economic perspective. We particularly look at the interaction between different actors and institutions within different markets and market segments.