Posts

What is an Environment? The meaning of an environment needs some short attention in order to frame understanding in this space.  More broadly the environment

Read MoreOn the Environment and Environmentalism

There are several conversations going on that consider the growth and decline of cities given their changing function in a Covid world. Such as why

Read MoreWhat is Urban? Fundamentals to growing and shrinking cities in a Covid World

NEWS ARTICLE CONTRIBUTIONS I take a public engagement approach and have been interviewed over 50 times by the media on property-related issues. Recent media outputs

Read MoreNews Articles – Archive Links

There is a warning flood-hit homeowners face financial costs long after the water has receded. Insurers are becoming increasingly sensitive to flood risk, which means

Read MoreHigher insurance bills, lower house values: Flooding can have long-term impact

Housing affordability as a rental tenure issue has become an increasingly debated area. Particularly as it can be argued that there has been an increasing

Read MoreHousing Affordability and Tenure Change – Generation Rent

Home at last: how COVID took homelessness off the streets During the pandemic, many homeless people were housed in hotels – it was supposed to

Read MoreHome at last: how COVID took homelessness off the streets

To deal with the economic issues of property, the work by David Ricardo (1772 – 1823) provides a dimension on how trade and the relative

Read MoreDavid Ricardo on Land Rents and Comparative Advantage

For major project feasibility and decision making, if cost and benefit items have been identified and valued, the net difference of costs and benefits need

Read MoreWhy does the value of money erode? Human Nature, Time, and Discounting

The infrastructure levy introduced last year is a start but New Zealand is behind its contemporaries. Massey University economics professor Graham Squires More weight needs

Read MoreInnovative infrastructure funding needed for affordable homes

Innovative finance for PPPs in real estate development will be critical to developing quality infrastructure and homes for New Zealanders, Professor Graham Squires says. Professor

Read MoreCould Public Private Partnerships help solve the infrastructure and housing crisis?

Private rental property owners do not have a moral obligation to provide houses to anyone, including vulnerable tenants, the New Zealand Property Investors Federation says.

Read MoreProperty investors and ‘moral obligation’

Thomas Malthus (1766-1834) was one writer who took concerns of economic growth and population rise as a consequence of the industrial revolution and extrapolated via

Read MoreThe Malthusian Problem of Feeding a Population

Private housing infrastructure funding charges might be the best way to speed up development and boost housing supply, a property academic says. House prices increased

Read MorePrivate infrastructure charges ‘the answer to boost housing supply’

The definitions given here are designed to understand the more technical parts of statistical regression analysis. I often find this type of work can help

Read MoreRegressing into Regressions – A checklist

As the Government tightens rules for property investors, it’s talking up a less common type of rental development. What are ‘build-to-rent’ schemes, and how could

Read MoreBuilding a case for ‘build-to-rent’ developments

The valuation of external costs and benefits will be difficult but necessary if the full cost or benefit to society and the environment is to

Read MoreThe Problem with an Economic Valuation of the Environment

Choice is an important element in economic thinking if there are scarce resources and infinite wants. Places that are booming will have to make choices,

Read MoreThe Economics of Choice and Opportunity Cost in Development

The discovery of what specific policy mechanisms can be used to finance affordable housing is extremely helpful. Different ‘types’ of mechanisms are available in the

Read MoreAffordable Housing using Direct Regulation and Bonds

The mechanisms highlighted in supporting affordable housing finance and funding only serve to demonstrate financial forces that shape the market. Often it is the process

[1500 Words; 8 Minute Read] In this post, we focus on the importance of methods to aid international ‘real world’ research. Natural sciences often place

Read MoreHow do we do international research?: Some Methods in studying ‘Real World’ phenomena

[2000 Words; 10 minute Read] The Private Finance Initiative (PFI) is defined as a form of procurement to encourage private investment in public sector projects.

Read MoreThe Private Finance Initiative (PFI) – Paying for Public Goods with Private Money

[1000 Words; 10 Minute Read] In addition to the more localised economic mechanisms that operate in urban areas, the wider open economy will shape how

Read MoreThe Open Economy and Sustainable Cities

[2000 Words; 10 Minute Read] It is important to improve understanding of how cities can be better financed to meet affordable housing challenges over the

Read MoreFinancing Affordable Housing – Some Fiscal Approaches used in the United States

[800 Words; 5 Minute Read] Research methodology often incorporates case studies, and it is important to outline case study epistemological merits and limitations. Firstly, the

Read MoreCase study research – using case studies by geography

[1000 Words; 5 Minute Read] A Public Private Partnership (PPP) is a public service or private business venture that is funded and operated through a

Read MorePublic Private Partnerships (PPP) – A win-win situation?

[1500 Words; 10 Minute Read] This article looks at ‘environmental resource’ issues in connection with water. We look at ‘externalities’ as the third-party costs and

[1300 Words; 10 Minute Read]. The post explores what is involved and could be considered when transferring policy from one context to another. At the

Read MorePolicy Transfer: Why do we see the same ideas and practice around the world? – 5 Key Aspects

[1200 Words; 4 Minute Read] Concern over climate change and a focus to improve and protect natural resources and improve ecological health have been promoted

Read MoreSustainable Urban Development – Connecting Urban and Environmental Economics

Given some recent announcements on social (public) housing provision in New Zealand, I have graphed the changes in tenure since 1991 to the start of

Read MoreNew Zealand Tenure Changes 1991 to 2016

[2000 Words; 15 Minute Read] Policy in affordable housing supply is responding to the challenge of housing markets where unaffordability prevails. Often measured by high

Read MoreAffordable Housing – a Community Reinvestment Solution?

[2000 Words; 20 Minute Read] There are forms of market failure due to external costs and benefits that need to be calculated and internalized to

Read MoreHow can you Value the Built and Natural Environment? Cost-Benefit Analysis

[1100 Words; 4 Minute Read] “Decent, affordable housing is fundamental to the health and well-being of people and to the smooth functioning of economies” (Woetzel

Read MoreHousing Affordability Determinants

[1200 Words; 10 Minute Read] In order to frame research within a particular philosophy a critical realist approach can be taken, especially to gain a

Read MoreCritical Realism as a Research Philosophy – Enlightened Common Sense?

[1000 Words; 5 Minute Read] In discussing globalisation, the term can be described as the convergence of markets, economies and ways of life across the

Read MoreWhy will Globalisation prevail? The enduring forces and enablers

Introduction [3000 Words; 23 Minute Read] The last few decades globally has seen a move away from seeing housing design as part of the development

Read MoreHousing Development and Design in Cities

[1000 Words; 10 Minute Read] This post looks at what “Weighted-Blended” Finance Mechanisms are the most appropriate framing to consider the financing of affordable housing

[2000 Words; 20 Minute Read] In examining the effectiveness of the investment practice known as ‘Socially Responsible Property Investment’ (SRPI), funds and developers make special

Time and Discounting [2500 Words; 20 Minute Read] For major project feasibility and decision making, if cost and benefit items have been identified and valued,

[3500 Words; 20 Minute Read] It is important to improve understanding of how cities can be better financed to meet affordable housing challenges over the

[3100 Words; Reading Time 24 Mins] Ideas, concepts and theories are developed from intellectual thoughts that are of importance when studying urban and environmental economics.

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[1500 Words; 20 Minute Read] This article introduces an understanding of the use of Socially Responsible Property Investment (SRPI) in urban development.  Urban development and

[5,000 Words; 30 Minute Read] The use of bonded financial mechanisms such as Tax Increment Financing (TIF) can lever renewal within a wider policy framework.

Squires, G., and Tommaso, G. (2020). The United Nations – Human Settlement Programme (UN-Habitat), the University College of London (UCL). Innovative governance modalities for urban

Read MoreResearch Projects – Full Archive List

Squires, G., and Susnjak, T. (2020). Machine Learning for Real Estate and Housing Markets. The Property Foundation Squires, G. (2020). The use of housing charges

Read MoreResearch Reports – Full Archive List

Article in National Business Review (NBR) exploring the foreign house buyer ban, Overseas Investment Act All regions showed a drop in affordability over the year.

Read MoreBanning foreign house buyers won’t have much effect – Massey professor

Newshub article on house prices For more than a year, the advice to Aucklanders struggling to buy a home was to move out of the

Read MoreRotorua house prices increasing the most in New Zealand

Article in TVNZ Television New Zealand on Housing Affordability Home affordability has plummeted in many regions across the country over the past year, according to

Read MoreHome affordability drops for Kiwis by almost 10 per cent, report says

Article on New Zealand Herald on Housing Affordability and Tenure It’s further bad news for renters with prices across New Zealand climbing steadily in the

Read MoreRenter pain continues as New Zealand rents jump 25% in five years

Article in Stuff exploring Build to Rent with colleague David White Property specialists at Massey University caution that mass rental housing like apartment blocks need to

Read MoreBuild-to-rent apartments must not become slums, property specialists warn

Article in RNZ relating to a series of industry seminars that myself and colleague David White ran on Build to Rent in New Zealand As

Read MoreBuild to rent: the pros and cons

Time flies when you are an academic. 10+ years ago I completed a PhD from the University of Manchester (UK), that predominantly focused on exploring

Here is a lecture I did a while back on Environmental Impact Assessment

Book Promotion at Delft, Netherlands. International Approaches to Real Estate Development

An online event I hosted on how property pivots in a post Covid 19 world. Note the lockdown beard for future self.

Building a 2nd Brain and Personal Knowledge Management (PKM) In the new pedagogical landscape, I am looking at the limits of teaching and learning as

Read MoreBrains are for having ideas, not storing them

In the lead up to the New Zealand 2020 election it is worthwhile having a look at what proportion of people bother to vote. Here

Read MoreDon’t vote! It only encourages them: Party Votes and Turnout by Electorate

I did some work looking housing affordability trajectories in New Zealand’s regions. All very techy, but essentially evidencing how 4 clustered regions have converged in

Read MoreHousing Affordability in the Regions as Trajectory Regressions – If you are into this kind of thing.

Here we find some initial analysis that I’ve done looking retrospectively on the 2017 election in New Zealand. Its thrown up some interesting aspects that

Read MoreHow to win an Election: New Zealand 2017 Analysis

Over the last few years, I’ve spent some time looking at and engaging with the affordability debate. For New Zealand, it is a significant but

Read MoreNo surprises: Wages haven’t kept up with runaway house prices. Some evidence.

Fast forward 36 years and we see the land value of sales in Auckland’s districts skyrocket. Auckland city at median land value of $500,000 (previously

Read MorePlaying with QGIS: What were Land Values worth in Auckland 2017?

In playing around with QGIS for another project I’ve mapped Auckland district median land values as of 1981. Auckland City land values at a mere

Read MorePlaying with QGIS: What were Land Values worth in Auckland 1981?

Here’s an excerpt from on recent research project on Machine Learning for Real Estate and Housing Markets… “…Here we consider all 21 national-level indicators and

Read MoreGazing into the Crystal Ball: Machine learning to predict house prices

Approaches to international comparative analysis of real estate development can be used to bring out some comparisons in case study sites. Key layers and mechanisms

Read MoreAn ‘innovative’ framework for comparing real estate development

Owner-occupier motivation is multifaceted and complex. It is the precursor to energy efficiency refurbishment (i.e. action) and to encourage a greater uptake such refurbishment better

Read MoreWhat are the motivations for energy efficient refurbishment (EER)?

For New Zealand, at a national scale housing policy trends have encouraged market engagement given its high proportion of residential ownership, with social housing provision

Read MoreMapping Financial Risk and Housing Trends in New Zealand: towards ‘freer’ in a largely free market?

Here’s an excerpt from a recent Journal Paper where we see An acceleration in Auckland and Central Otago Lakes since 2013 Median house price trends

Read MoreRegional house price (sales) trends 2010-2017. An acceleration in Auckland and Central Otago Lakes

Within a current Machine Learning project we start with a baseline look at how house prices have changed over the last 2 decades. Here we

Read More2 Decades of Auckland Median House Prices 2000-2019

The graph depicts the year-on-year percentage changes of the amount of economic activity being generated in the Rental, Hiring and Real-estate Sector over the volatile

Read MoreA Covid-19 Pandemic Retrospective: Activity being generated in the Real-estate Sector over the volatile period during the COVID19 in New Zealand

Great stories piece on State Housing in New Zealand. Only 4% of total stock but has been an essential part of the fabric since 1906.

Read MoreState Housing New Zealand

Editorial for Journal of Property Investment and Finance https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/JPIF-02-2020-141/full/html

Interesting house price index from The Economist post GFC

This data visualisation talk is really good Especially the interesting budget visualisation, demonstrating the enormous relative impact of the GFC

Software to help with referencing is a good way to build up and manage your own dataset of articles. Here are a couple of good

Read MoreReferencing Techniques

A really useful starting point in understanding the PropTech field is from the consultancy-university report authored by Andrew Baum at Oxford University https://www.sbs.ox.ac.uk/sites/default/files/2018-07/PropTech3.0.pdf

https://doi.org/10.1080/21681376.2019.1643777

When using online survey methods, two useful software products are Qualtrics and Survey Monkey. Basic techniques for analysing the findings are also available in the

Read MoreOnline Survey Methods

‘Research’ is a term that covers a multitude of activities, but in one way or another they are all about finding things out. At one

Read MoreWhat is Research?

For quantifying and analysing qualitative data I tend to use NVivo. Here’s a link to the software page: https://www.qsrinternational.com/nvivo/nvivo-products

Here’s part of an article I wrote for the main online NZ media outlet stuff.co.nz on housing affordability prior to the 2017 election… Talk of

Read More2 years on: Is the Housing Affordability crisis still a crisis?

https://youtu.be/UZnoOuMwupM

Institutions providing access to housing in all tenures have become further entrenched and exposed to financial risk. Literature on housing policy trends and financial risk

Read MoreTowards Financial Risk and Housing Policy Trends

Ten years after the Global Financial Crisis, this research examines how resilience theory and rhetoric relating to the economy and housing markets has been translated into policy and

Read MoreResilience and housing markets: Who is it really for?

In  a journal paper we argue that Disruptive Innovation Theory indicates that there is disruptive potential of Real Estate Crowd-Funding (RECF). As an excerpt…”RECF seems

Read MoreCrowdfunding real estate

              Policymakers in New Zealand are attempting to achieve improved environmental outcomes by implementing an output-based approach to non-point-source

Read MoreImproving water quality with rural land use policy: (re)balancing farmland regulation, intensification and financial viability

                          Real estate development shapes the way people live and work, playing a

Read MoreMy New Edited Book – Routledge Companion to Real Estate Development

          The latest Massey University Home Affordability Report shows most regions of New Zealand have declined in affordability over the most

Read MoreHome affordability declines in most New Zealand regions

The Massey Home Affordability Index takes into account the cost of borrowing as well as house prices and wage levels. This March quarter has seen

Read MoreCentral Otago Lakes has now Surpassed Auckland as the Most Unaffordable Region in New Zealand

The Massey Affordability Index takes into account the cost of borrowing as well as house prices and wage levels. This December quarter has seen a

Read MoreRising House Prices Still Drive Housing Affordability Metrics

It is important to consider the merits of using projects bonds to finance infrastructure investment projects – in particular, the pricing of such bonds and the level

Read MoreFinancing infrastructure development: time to unshackle the bonds?

                This research provides an insight into large-scale real estate projects in Europe and how they are using

Read MoreInnovative real estate development finance – evidence from Europe

                      Real estate development is a significant factor in planning the built environment. It shapes

Read MoreMethods and models for international comparative real estate development

                Neighbourhoods within area-based initiatives that are engaged with regeneration and renewal often experience difficulties of poverty, disadvantage

Read MoreDysfunctional Neighbourhoods Exist: More Urban Regeneration Needed

                There are some 487,000 places in long-stay residential care and nursing homes in the UK representing an

Read MoreThe difference between property bonds and leases – and the consequences for healthcare.

A critical review and analysis of innovative financial instruments for real estate development in Europe will be useful to EU and European national policy makers

Read MoreInnovative Development Finance in Europe

Can finance bonding be centred more on affordable housing as well as infrastructure? Some interesting nuances and lessons can be drawn when using a Tax Increment

Read MoreLessons in finance bonding for affordable housing

    In considering heritage for buildings within Enterprise Zones, the central premise has been focusing on economic growth, with less thought given to the wider structural and cultural

Read MoreIs Building Heritage in Enterprise Zones The Latest Threat or Opportunity?

          New forms of governance, conditional approaches to public service access, and initiatives to engage citizens in taking on new responsibilities

Read MoreReturning to Rousseau – Is there a Contract Between Citizen and State?

                The last 15 years has seen significant changes in the location, type, delivery and design of urban

Read MoreA housing numbers game? The new housing quality design challenge