This paper is structured around three principal objectives. The first is to determine whether any incentives for appraisals support an underlying purchase offer, which may be termed a transaction bias. Appraisals that are lower than purchase prices could involve additional cost for justification...

This paper develops a model of the market for commercial real estate loans based on the variables used by investors and lenders in property decision-making: the income capitalization (cap) rate, the debt-coverage ratio and the loan-to-value ratio. Empirical results for aggregate United States...

Landlords fact unique concerns in maximizing profits when they accept subsidized as well as unsubsidized tenants. Subsidized tenants tend to reduce overall tenant quality and to impose higher operating costs. By accepting subsidies, landlords may also subject themselves to periodic site...

Sellers of houses signal their motivation or willingness to sell through price and contractual provisions in their listing agreements. A pricing strategy is for motivated sellers to set their listing prices at or below estimated market values as determined by the quality and other...

The paper develops an asset allocation structure that typifies a representative consumer. Consumption is between housing and other goods and services. The balance sheet has a house and a mortgage. Income comes from labor earnings, constraining cash expenditures. Access to the mortgage market...

The consumption function for the U.S. economy is estimated with real estate and financial wealth for quarterly data for 1952:1-2001:4. An additional dollar of real estate wealth increases consumption by 8 cents in the current year, as compared with only 2 cents for financial wealth. The results...

This paper develops an equilibrium model of the commercial mortgage market that includes the sequence form commitment to origination and allows testing for differences by type of lender. From borrowers, loan demand is based on the income yield, capital gains, and expectations about return...

During an asset boom a property can develop a new usage. Appreciation investors emerge to change a property's occupant mix or letter grade. Rental investors not intending to change the mix or grade are outbid. Sellers receive a capitalized premium from the new type of bidder. For apartments in...

Real estate markets remain localized and reflect differences by region. With a large number of brokerage firms and a smaller number of franchisors, a testable hypothesis is whether in equilibrium fees and royalties are equal to the additional return to the franchisee. If fees are set uniformly...

The positioning of a property along a given rent-vacancy signaling frontier depends on its ownership, branding, and quality. Confirmation of a separating equilibrium occurs if the quality from the branding, itself dependent on costly management decisions, results in rent differentials. For...