The real estate sector represents a substantial share of the capital assets and savings of businesses and households in the economy and is a major influence on the performance of the economy.
With the encouragement and financial support of UNSW alumnus, Mr. Andrew Roberts, the Real Estate Initiative was established in 2012 under the umbrella of the Centre for Applied Economic Research (CAER) within the UNSW Business School. It is a multi-disciplinary initiative, with collaboration between CAER, UNSW Business School and UNSW Built Environment.
To develop into a fully-fledged and well-recognised leading Centre for Real Estate Research and Teaching in the Asia Pacific region.
Real Estate Initiative Leader: Professor Kevin Fox
Phone: +61 2 9385 8173
Email: caer@unsw.edu.au
Research topics are organised under the following two broad themes, with specific topics selected and developed in consultation with key industry partners, through regular formal research meetings, workshops and structured joint research projects.
Topics include:
The Real Estate Initiative was awarded an Australian Research Council Linkage Grant of $625,000 (2014-2017) for their research project: “The Economic Measurement of Property Markets: Prices, Bubbles, Economic Growth and Productivity”. The research project is a collaboration between the Real Estate Initiative and property investor RF Capital together with its associate property fund manager and investor CorVal Partners Limited. The research proposal builds on both firms’ research capacity on property markets, including their data availability and industry expertise.
From 2014, the UNSW Business School is offering a major in real estate as one of the majors offered in its undergraduate Commerce program. The major was developed in response to strong industry demand for graduates with a mix of skills in economics, finance and law in the area of real estate. It is a cross disciplinary major, with the Schools of Economics, Banking & Finance, Taxation & Business Law and the UNSW Built Environment all teaching courses in the major. The major is modelled on programs offered by leading US business schools and is designed for students who would like to work in real estate investment management or research, in public policy, or more generally in the financial or corporate sectors.
The Real Estate Student Society was established in October 2014. Since its establishment the Real Estate Student Society has been very proactive. With support from the UNSW Business School, students have been actively engaged with outstanding academics in the field and are taking part in industry events. The Real Estate Student Society has also provided positive feedback on the real estate courses offered as part of the major, and the Real Estate Initiative is looking forward to further expanding its collaboration with them.