SYNOPSIS

Real estate market research is part of the study of real estate as a larger discipline. It concentrates on some specific aspects of the real estate market, particularly the generation of information to facilitate better decision-making, which can potentially influence the property business.

There are so many elements of the real estate market that influence the real estate business. The day-to-day solutions to those problems need continuous supply of information or even specific problem-solving exercises. Real estate market research is particularly important for various decision-making processes, especially concerning the business decisions in real estate, such as property development, appraisal or valuation, real estate marketing, property management, and real estate investment.

The knowledge gained from this course should be able to supplement the understanding about the property market and how information on it should be generated to arrive at certain decision pertaining to the real estate business.  In this context, students are required to submit compulsory assignments whereby they will be provided with the background of some selected problems and work out the solutions individually.

It is hoped that this course will be able to broaden students' knowledge in the real estate market research. I am more than happy to share ideas with you to improve the content of this course.

Objectives

This subject has the following objectives:

▪  To provide a subject curriculum that can give students the basic understanding of various

    aspects of real estate market research.

▪  To provide teaching and learning process that enables development of skills and technical

    competence in real estate market research problem-solving critically, logically, creatively and

    analytically based on sound facts and ideas.

▪  To develop students’ communication skills in imparting knowledge and information among

    the peers with respect to real estate market research.

▪  To instil responsibility and accountability among students with respect to their duties through

    lectures and coursework activities.

Subject Learning Outcomes

Mapping of Subject Learning Outcomes

Key: Technical Skills: a = major contribution to outcome;   b = moderate contribution to outcome;  c = minor contribution to outcome. Generic Skills:   1 =  Substantial (with assessment);   2 = not substantial (introduce);  – = not relevant

Assessment of Subject’s Learning Outcomes

The long assignment should be developed from a selected topic of your own.  It must be empirical in nature. The topic you choose should have a focus indicating what you want to address, why, and how. The problem must be addressed using empirical evidence, which means, collection and analysis of real world data.  Students may be required to give a presentation of their assignments towards the end of the semester.

Students are expected to consult the lecturer before commencing their tasks. This is to ensure that they clearly understand the nature of the selected problem, the method of investigation including the data to use, and the method of analysis. At the end of the analysis, students are expected to derive relevant conclusions of their studies. An offer for solutions to the problem being investigated will be an advantage in terms of marks. Submission bearing the essential features of a technical report is compulsory, BUT...BEWARE, the assignment is not a thesis and, therefore, no student should submit a bulky report and feels being burdened with another final year thesis!

The tutorial activities will be determined from time to time. Students will be briefed on them in the lecture sessions prior to the next tutorial. It may comprise essays on property market research, critical review of issues in real estate market research, or any other forms of discussion. These activities demand active participation from the students. To encourage group-oriented learning and team-working, tutorial activities will be basically carried out in groups.

The long assignment MUST BE submitted one week before the final examination. A penalty system is used to mark late submission. No submission will be accepted after the final day of examination week. The short assignment MUST BE submitted during the first week of the second part of semester break. A two-or three-day late submission after the last day of that week is accepted.  However, again a penalty system is used to mark submission later than that.

The final examination will be a two-part paper. Part A contains multi-structured questions and students are required to answer ALL 20 questions in no more than 40 minutes. Part B contains calculation-based and short essay questions. From this part, students are required to attempt FOUR out of normally eight questions. Each question in this part is allocated 20 minutes.

SYLLABUS

LECTURE PLAN

REFERENCES

Abdul Hamid bin Hj. Mar Iman (1998). Buku Tangan Kaedah Penyelidikan Untuk Pelajar Harta Tanah, Teaching Module, FKSG, UTM, Skudai

Abdul Hamid bin Hj. Mar Iman (2002). An Introduction to Property Marketing, Skudai: Academic Publication Unit, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia.

Abdul Hamid bin Hj. Mar Iman (2006). The Fundamentals of Property Market Research, Skudai: Academic Publication Unit, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia.

Abdul Hamid bin Hj. Mar Iman (2005). Methods of Property Supply and Demand Analysis, Skudai: Academic Publication Unit (under publication).

Barett, G.V. and Blair, J.P. (1982).  How to Conduct and Analyse Real Estate Market and Feasibility Studies. Van Nostrand Reinhold Company.

Fanning, S.F., Grissom, T.V., and Pearson, T.D. (1994). Market Analysis for Valuation Appraisals.  Chicago, Illinois: Appraisal Institute.

Various selected case studies by the instructor.