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Sustainable Real Estate: Management, Assessment and Innovations

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A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Sustainable Engineering and Science".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 January 2021) | Viewed by 42219

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Prof. Dr. Pierfrancesco De Paola

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Department of Industrial Engineering, University of Naples “Federico II”, Piazzale Vincenzo Tecchio 80, 80125 Napoli, Italy
Interests: econometric models; mass appraisal; real estate market; risk management; urban and real estate economics; real estate investments; building management; economic valuation of real estate investment projects; environmental economics; transport economics; sustainability; knowledge management; corporate valuation
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Dr. Francesco Tajani

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Department of Architecture and Design, Sapienza University of Rome, Via Flaminia 359, 00196 Rome, Italy
Interests: property valuation; mass appraisal; urban economics; risk analysis; engineering economics; financial sustainability; decision support systems; sustainable urban development; life cycle assessment
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Dr. Marco Locurcio

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Guest Editor

Department of Civil, Environmental, Land, Building Engineering and Chemistry (DICATECh), Polytechnic University of Bari, Via Orabona 4, 70125 Bari, Italy
Interests: real estate market; risk management; urban and real estate economics; real estate investments; building management; economic valuation of real estate investment projects; environmental economics; real estate appraisal; property valuation; financial and economic analysis for investment projects; econometrics
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Production and consumption activities have determined a weakness of the sustainable real estate economy. The main problems are the subordination of public decision-making, which is subjected to pressure from big companies, inefficient appraisal procedures, excessive use of financial leverage in investment projects, the atypical nature of markets, income positions in urban transformations, and the financialization of real estate markets with widespread negative effects.

A delicate role in these complex problems is assigned to real estate appraisal activities, called to make value judgments on real estate goods and investment projects, the prices of which are often formed in atypical real estate markets, giving ever greater importance to sustainable development and transformation issues.

The Special Issue is dedicated, but not only limited, to developing and disseminating knowledge and innovations related to most recent real estate evaluation methodologies applied in the fields of architecture and civil, building, and environmental and territorial engineering. Suitable works include studies on econometric models, sustainable building management, building costs, risk management and real estate appraisal, mass appraisal methods applied to real estate properties, urban and land economics, transport economics, the application of economics and financial techniques to real estate markets, the economic valuation of real estate investment projects, the economic effects of building transformations or projects on the environment, and sustainable real estate.

Prof. Dr. Pierfrancesco De Paola
Prof. Eng. Francesco Tajani
Prof. Dr. Marco Locurcio
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

Building management
Building costs
Mass appraisal methods
Econometric models
Real estate risk management
Economic valuation of real estate investment projects
Real estate market
Social housing
Urban economics
Land
Transport economics
Real estate economics and finance
Sustainable building transformations and economic effects on environment
Green buildings

Published Papers (13 papers)

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Editorial

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6 pages, 15580 KiB

Open AccessEditorial

Sustainable Real Estate: Management, Assessment and Innovations

by Pierfrancesco De Paola, Francesco Tajani and Marco Locurcio

Sustainability 2021, 13(9), 4676; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13094676 - 22 Apr 2021

Viewed by 3027

Abstract

Production and consumption activities have determined a weakness of the sustainable real estate economy [...] Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Real Estate: Management, Assessment and Innovations)

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Research

Jump to: Editorial

9 pages, 1279 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Impact of Uncertainty on State-Level Housing Markets of the United States: The Role of Social Cohesion

by Linyan Dai and Xin Sheng

Sustainability 2021, 13(6), 3065; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13063065 - 11 Mar 2021

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1628

Abstract

While considering the role of social cohesion, we analyse the impact of uncertainty on housing markets across the 50 states of the United States, plus the District of Columbia, using the local projection method for panel data. We find that both short-term and long-term measurements of macroeconomic and financial uncertainties reduce real housing returns, with the strongest effect originated from the macro-economic uncertainty over the long term. Moreover, the degree of social cohesion does not change the nature of the impact of uncertainty on real housing returns dramatically, but the size of the negative effects is relatively large for states with low social cohesion. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Real Estate: Management, Assessment and Innovations)

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16 pages, 1641 KiB

Open AccessArticle

An MCDM Model for Sustainable Decision-Making in Municipal Residential Buildings Facilities Management

by Eglė Klumbytė, Raimondas Bliūdžius, Milena Medineckienė and Paris A. Fokaides

Sustainability 2021, 13(5), 2820; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13052820 - 05 Mar 2021

Cited by 12 | Viewed by 2616

Abstract

Measuring and monitoring sustainability plays an essential role in impact assessment of global changes and development. Multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) represents a reliable and adequate technique for assessing sustainability, especially in the field of municipal buildings management, where numerous parameters and criteria are involved. This study presents an MCDM model for the sustainable decision-making, tailored to municipal residential buildings facilities management. The main outcome of this research concerned normalized and weighted decision-making matrixes, based on the complex proportion assessment (COPRAS) and weighted aggregated sum product assessment (WASPAS) methods, applied for ranking investment alternatives related to the management of the buildings. The delivered model was applied to 20 municipal buildings of Kaunas city municipality, located in Lithuania, which an EU member state employing practices and regulations in accordance with the EU acquis, as well as a former Soviet Republic. The proposed model aspires to enhance sustainability practices in the management of municipal buildings and to demonstrate a solid tool that will allow informed decision-making in the building management sector. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Real Estate: Management, Assessment and Innovations)

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20 pages, 750 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Pricing ESG Equity Ratings and Underlying Data in Listed Real Estate Securities

by Dirk Brounen, Gianluca Marcato and Hans Op ’t Veld

Sustainability 2021, 13(4), 2037; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13042037 - 13 Feb 2021

Cited by 15 | Viewed by 6728

Abstract

By analyzing the adoption of the European Public Real Estate Association’s (EPRA) Sustainability Best Practices Recommendations (sBPR), we examine and discuss the application of transparent environmental, social and governance (ESG) ratings and their interaction with public real estate performance across European markets. Due to increasing concerns about the environment and the impact of investment on society at large, public property companies have made significant progress in improving transparency and enhancing the protection of shareholder value by sharing and reporting ESG best practices. We explore and review the EPRA sBPR database, which is highly useful for investors who are already screening listed real estate companies. Hence, in this project, we carefully study the diffusion process of this new ESG metric as a tool to enhance informational transparency regarding public real estate investment management and assess the effects of this transparency and ESG performance for the real estate stock returns. We find evidence of a sustainability premium that investors are willing to pay to access companies with better sustainable ratings. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Real Estate: Management, Assessment and Innovations)

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20 pages, 317 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Multi-Horizon Financial and Housing Wealth Effects across the U.S. States

by Yener Coskun, Christos Bouras, Rangan Gupta and Mark E. Wohar

Sustainability 2021, 13(3), 1341; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13031341 - 28 Jan 2021

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1644

Abstract

We investigate for the presence of multi-horizon wealth effects across U.S. states over the period of 1975:Q2 to 2012:Q2 by utilizing multi-horizon non-causality testing and multi-horizon causality measurement. At the state/aggregate level, we document that housing wealth has more statistically significant and persistent impact on private consumption than financial wealth. We also find that state-level housing/financial wealth effects are present at long time horizons and exhibit heterogeneity across the U.S. From a policy perspective, we suggest that state-level policies may specifically utilize the housing market to support consumption and growth. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Real Estate: Management, Assessment and Innovations)

21 pages, 558 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Retirement Age and Housing Consumption: The Case of South Korea

by Chunil Kim, Hyobi Choi and Yeol Choi

Sustainability 2021, 13(3), 1286; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13031286 - 26 Jan 2021

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2913

Abstract

South Korea became an aging society in 2000 and will become a super-aged nation in 2026. The extended life expectancy and earlier retirement make workers’ preparation for retirement more difficult, and that hardship might lead to poorer living conditions after retirement. As annuity payments are, in general, not enough for retirees to maintain their previous standard of living after retirement, retired households would have to liquidate their financial and real assets to cover household expenditures. As housing takes the biggest share of households’ total assets in Korea, it seems to be natural for retirees to downsize their houses. However, there is no consensus in the housing literature on housing downsizing, and the debate is still ongoing. In order to understand whether or not housing downsizing by retirees occurs in Korea, this paper examines the impact of the timing of retirement on housing consumption using an econometric model of housing tenure choice and the consumption for housing. The results show that the early retirement group living in more populated region does not downsize the house, while the timing of retirement is negatively associated with housing consumption for the late retirement group living in the peripheral region. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Real Estate: Management, Assessment and Innovations)

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21 pages, 2502 KiB

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House Prices in the Peripheries of Mass Rapid Transit Stations Using the Contingent Valuation Method

by Kuo-Cheng Hsu

Sustainability 2020, 12(20), 8701; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12208701 - 20 Oct 2020

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2454

Abstract

With the implementation of growth management planning in urban areas and the realization of sustainable development visions, transit-oriented development has become a form of mainstream urban development. Relevant studies have verified that the market prices of houses in the peripheries of public transit stations are higher than those of regular houses. However, when buying a house, people make price decisions on the basis of their levels of identification with the amenities and environmental qualities of residential locations. The question arises whether current housing price levels in the peripheries of public transit stations properly reflect or over-reflect this consideration. To clarify this, this study selected the peripheries of mass rapid transit (MRT) stations in the Taipei metropolitan area in Taiwan as the research area and designed a willingness-to-pay questionnaire for houses in the peripheries of MRT stations by using the contingent valuation method. Subsequently, a Tobit regression model was established to estimate the prices that people are willing to pay for such houses. The results revealed that after the respondents had considered the advantages and disadvantages of the amenities and environmental qualities of the peripheries of MRT stations, they were willing to pay higher prices for a house in those areas than for a regular house. For houses in the peripheries of elevated stations, the respondents were willing to pay approximately 7.89% more than the average market price of the entire administrative district per square meter. For houses in the peripheries of underground stations, the respondents were willing to pay approximately 5.9% more than the average market price of the entire administrative district per square meter. However, in the peripheries of both elevated and underground stations, the current market house prices are higher than the price levels the respondents were willing to pay. In the peripheries of elevated stations, the market house prices are 33.55% higher, and those in the peripheries of underground stations are 14.82% higher than what the respondents were willing to pay. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Real Estate: Management, Assessment and Innovations)

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19 pages, 28616 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Unequal Impact of Natural Landscape Views on Housing Prices: Applying Visual Perception Model and Quantile Regression to Apartments in Seoul

by Hyejin Lee, Byoungkil Lee and Sangkyeong Lee

Sustainability 2020, 12(19), 8275; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12198275 - 08 Oct 2020

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2235

Abstract

Natural landscape views have positive sides, such as providing restorative effects to urban residents, and negative sides, such as deepening wealth inequality. Previous studies have mainly focused on the positives and rarely on the negatives. From this perspective, this study aimed to analyze the unequal impact of natural landscape views on housing prices for apartments in Seoul. We proposed a visual perception model to analyze natural landscape views and, based on a hedonic price model, we used ordinary least squares and quantile regression to estimate the marginal impacts on housing prices. The results show that: (1) natural landscape views had positive impacts on housing prices, but their impacts did not reach the level of structural and locational characteristics such as apartment area and the distance to subway stations; (2) natural landscape views had different marginal impacts by housing price range and, in particular, had much higher value-added effects on higher-priced apartments, meaning that if old apartment complexes are redeveloped into high-rise ones, the improvement in natural landscape views generates great profit for apartment owners and intensifies wealth inequality; (3) the geographic information system-based visual perception model effectively quantified the natural landscape views of wide areas and is thus applicable for the rigorous analysis of various landscape views. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Real Estate: Management, Assessment and Innovations)

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18 pages, 283 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Economic Viability of a Progressive Smart Building System with Power Storage

by Eerika Janhunen, Niina Leskinen and Seppo Junnila

Sustainability 2020, 12(15), 5998; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12155998 - 25 Jul 2020

Cited by 11 | Viewed by 4841

Abstract

The increased smartness of the built environment is expected to contribute positively to climate change mitigation through energy conservation, efficient renewable energy utilization, and greenhouse gas emission reduction. Accordingly, significant investments are required in smart technologies, which enable the distributed supply of renewables and increased demand-side energy flexibility. The present study set out to understand the cash flows and economic viability of a real-life smart system investment in a building. The data collection process was threefold: First, a case building’s level of (energy) smartness was estimated. Second, the semi-structured interviews were held to understand the building owner’s motives for a smart investment. Third, the investment’s profitability was analyzed. The study found that the progressive smartness investment was technically feasible, and surprisingly also economically profitable. The original EUR 6 million investment provided over 10% return-on-investment and, thus, increased the property value by more than EUR 10 million. Moreover, the commercial partners also emphasized the strategic value gained by renewable energy and environmental performance. The high level of smartness with a good return on investment was accomplished mainly through new income generated from the reserve power markets. However, the results implied that financial profitability alone was not enough to justify the economic viability of a smart building system investment. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Real Estate: Management, Assessment and Innovations)

29 pages, 5218 KiB

Open AccessArticle

An Innovative GIS-Based Territorial Information Tool for the Evaluation of Corporate Properties: An Application to the Italian Context

by Marco Locurcio, Pierluigi Morano, Francesco Tajani and Felicia Di Liddo

Sustainability 2020, 12(14), 5836; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12145836 - 20 Jul 2020

Cited by 17 | Viewed by 2774

Abstract

The financial transmission of the USA’s housing price bubble has highlighted the inadequacy of the valuation methods adopted by the credit institutions, due to their static nature and inability to understand complex socio-economic dynamics and their related effects on the real estate market. The present research deals with the current issue of using Automated Valuation Methods for expeditious assessments in order to monitor and forecast market evolutions in the short and medium term. The paper aims to propose an evaluative model for the corporate market segment, in order to support the investors’, the credit institutions’ and the public entities’ decision processes. The application of the proposed model to the corporate real estate segment market of the cities of Rome and Milan (Italy) outlines the potentialities of this approach in property big data management. The elaboration of input and output data in the GIS (Geographic Information System) environment allowed the development of an intuitive platform for the immediate representation of the results and their easy interpretation, even to non-expert users. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Real Estate: Management, Assessment and Innovations)

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23 pages, 2844 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Do Women Affect the Final Decision on the Housing Market? A Case Study

by Sabina Źróbek, Elżbieta Zysk, Mirosław Bełej and Natalija Lepkova

Sustainability 2020, 12(11), 4652; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12114652 - 06 Jun 2020

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2475

Abstract

This article presents the results of research on the effect of the customer’s gender on the tenure choice (ownership or tenancy) on the housing market. In the study, an attempt has been made to investigate whether there is a significant role of women in making decisions in this market. The survey was conducted among residents of two cities—Olsztyn (Poland) and Vilnius (Lithuania). The obtained answers were subjected to a multi-dimensional categorical and quantitative analysis. The results showed, among others, that women generally have greater decision-making autonomy in residential issues than men, with Lithuanian women doing this much more often than Polish women. However, it should be noted that the dominant decision-making model in the housing market is the model of joint decisions taken by men and women. The results of the conducted analysis broaden the existing knowledge of the functioning of the housing market and may support the implementation of the pro-social and pro-sustainable spatial development policy of the given territorial unit. The results may also contribute to more sustainable development of enterprises in the housing construction sector. This is an important issue in a climate of intense competition between “providers” of flats and the gradual introduction of the idea of competition between them and the social environment. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Real Estate: Management, Assessment and Innovations)

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19 pages, 694 KiB

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Varying Effects of Urban Tree Canopies on Residential Property Values across Neighborhoods

by Youngme Seo

Sustainability 2020, 12(10), 4331; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12104331 - 25 May 2020

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 3169

Abstract

As more land area than ever is covered with impermeable surfaces causing problems in the environment, urban trees are effective not only in mitigating environmental problems in the built environment and reducing buildings’ energy use, but also in increasing social and economic benefits. However, the benefits urban trees provide are not evenly distributed but rather disproportionately distributed in high-income neighborhoods. The purpose of this study is to estimate the varying effects of urban trees based on a variety of factors that have influence on tree canopy coverage, including land constraints, new developments, financial capacity to maintain trees, and neighborhood characteristics. Using a unique dataset that includes 24,203 single-family residential sales from 2007 to 2015 merged with Urban Tree Canopy (UTC), this study utilizes spatial models to empirically evaluate the impact of UTC on residential property values in the housing market. Multi-Level Mixed (MLM) models are used to capture the varying effects of tree cover, based on land constraints, new development, financial capacity, and neighborhood characteristics. The findings show the effect of trees is positive and varies across neighborhoods, and implication of the results to best achieve specific desired outcomes in tree-related policies and urban development are apparent. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Real Estate: Management, Assessment and Innovations)

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17 pages, 1513 KiB

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An Integrated Methodological Analysis for the Highest Best Use of Big Data-Based Real Estate Development

by Jaehwan Kim, Ducksu Seo and You Seok Chung

Sustainability 2020, 12(3), 1144; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12031144 - 05 Feb 2020

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2990

Abstract

This study investigates the integration of methods for real estate development planning and feasibility studies in the changing business environments of emerging big-data. It examines high-rise mixed-use development projects for the highest best use by combining fuzzy theory; thus, it identifies a big data-based innovative decision-making method for systemizing the various factors expected to influence real estate development. In this context, the study creates new evaluation fields and factors by integrating both conventional and big-data based high-rise mixed-use projects. The weight of each value was calibrated by relative significance and fuzzy measure using the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) method. A measuring technique that applies analysis methodology to the evaluation areas was developed for more objective and clearer evaluation, and its application in the field was proposed. Evaluators can systematically assess the concerned evaluation areas during development project planning by examining the process. The findings also provided implications for the evaluation system’s operation by reflecting the variability of specific conditions of the varying projects in real estate and urban and land use planning. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Real Estate: Management, Assessment and Innovations)

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