Uses of Equilibrium Models in Real Estate Research

Abstract

Equilibrium analysis is a valuable tool in real estate investment research. In this survey, I show how equilibrium models have been used to estimate the required risk premium for different classes of real estate, to explain housing prices and rents, and to determine investment rental market adjustment and valuation (as well as to predict future rent, price and value developments).

Equilibrium analysis, combined with option theory, has also increased our understanding of differences in coupon/rental rates on loans/leases with different contract provisions (or our understanding of differences in values of contracts with different provisions but the same coupon/rental rates). Because the work on leases has lagged that on loans or mortgages, application of the mortgage research methodology to leases is an especially fertile area for research.

JEL Classification: L85