George W. Gau

Initial public offerings of equity securities *1: Anomalous evidence using REITs

Abstract In contrast with numerous studies that find significant underpricing for initial public offerings of industrial firms, we document a statistically significant average return of −2.82% on the first trading day for a sample of 87 initial public offerings of real estate investment trusts during the 1971–1988 period. Our overpricing result is invariant to offer price, issue size, distribution method, offer period, and underwriter reputation. Newly issued REITs, on average, substantially underperform a matching sample of seasoned REITs during the first 190 trading days. Interestingly, buyers of overpriced REITs are predominantly individual or non-13(f) institutional investors.

Dividend Policies and Dividend Announcement Effects for Real Estate Investment Trusts

Previous research on real estate investment trusts (REITs) assumes that their dividend policies are determined solely by tax regulations. We observe, however, that REITs often pay out more dividends than are required by tax rules. This paper examines the dividend policies of REITs by drawing inferences from agency-cost theory and tests for the determinants of REIT dividend payout ratios. The study also considers whether the stock market responds differently to the dividend announcement effects of equity and mortgage REITs based on asymmetric information. Our results support agency-cost explanations for dividend policy and suggest a differential announcement effect. Copyright American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association.

Stock Market Reaction to Capital Investment Decisions: Evidence from Business Relocations

We investigate the stock market reaction to 447 announcements of business relocation decisions in the 1978–1990 period. We find that the stock market reaction to such decisions is tied to the motive for the relocation and the implied prospects for the firm, with the type of facility being relocated playing an insignificant role. Our finding reconciles several results in the literature concerning the stock market reaction to announcements of capital investment decisions.

Market Microstructure and Real Estate Returns

This paper examines the Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) market microstruc-ture and its relationship to stock returns. When compared with the general stock market, REIT stocks tend to have a lower level of institutional investor participation and are followed by fewer security analysts. In addition, REIT stocks that have a higher percentage of institutional investors or are followed by more security analysts tend to perform better than other REIT stocks. Our results seem to confirm Jensens (1993, p. 868) proposition that ownership structure (that is, who owns the firms securities) affects the value of the firm. Our findings also have implications about the well documented phenomenon that the financial performance of Commingled Real Estate Funds (CREFs) is better than that of REITs. Copyright American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association.

Efficient Real Estate Markets: Paradox or Paradigm?†

This paper examines the question of whether an efficient markets paradigm should be adopted for the modelling and testing of real estate markets. It considers the perceived imperfections commonly suggested for these markets and reviews the existing weak form and semistrong form tests of real estate efficiency. Finally, it examines some of the likely implications for real estate research and practice resulting from the acceptance of such a paradigm.

Public Information and Abnormal Returns in Real Estate Investment

This study performs empirical tests of the semistrong form efficiency of a real estate investment market. An asset pricing model is utilized to estimate the abnormal returns resulting from two types of public information, major changes in government tax shelter and rent control policies as well as unanticipated changes in interest rates. In both cases the results find an absence of significant abnormal returns and no evidence to suggest that real estate investors can utilize information concerning government policy changes or interest rate movements to earn higher returns on a risk-adjusted basis. In general the findings of this study conform to the semistrong form version of the efficient markets hypothesis. Copyright American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association.

Capital Structure Decisions in Real Estate Investment

This study examines the financing decisions of real estate investors and the choice of capital structure when acquiring income-producing properties. Drawing from the literature in finance and real estate, we develop a capital structure model for real estate investment and derive six hypotheses regarding the relationship of the overall loan-to-value ratio chosen by an investor to selected characteristics of the investment. The hypotheses are then tested using financing data from a sample of apartment and commercial transactions over a fifteen-year period in a specific real estate market. The empirical findings strongly support the importance of depreciation deductions, financial distress costs, capital constraints, tax rates, and interest rates as determinants of the capital structure of real estate investors. Copyright American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association.

Optimal Comparable Selection and Weighting in Real Property Valuation: An Extension

Vandell (1991) recently developed a rigorous minimum variance technique for selecting and weighting comparables in real estate appraisal. This article extends Vandells methodology in three areas: (1) an alternative objective function; (2) an approach that explicitly recognizes the non-negativity constraint on comparable weights; and, (3) a more robust comparable inclusion process. Using Vandells data, we show how our methodology modifies Vandells results. Copyright American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association.

A Further Examination of Appraisal Data and the Potential Bias in Real Estate Return Indexes

Recent articles by Giliberto [2] and Geltner [1] examine the biases inherent in the use of appraisal data in real estate performance measurement. This note takes another look at the direction and magnitude of any bias in holding period returns. Using appraisal data from a commingled real estate fund, we show that in actual application the size of the holding period return bias can be quite small and this bias may have no appreciable effect on real estate return indexes. Copyright American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association.

A Further Discussion of Optimal Comparable Selection and Weighting, and a Response to Green

Using a revised model framework that views expected adjusted prices of corn-parables as random variables, Green (1994) demonstrates that Vandells (1992) minimum variance estimator is preferred under the classical ordinary least squares (OLS) assumptions. As a result, the minimum coefficient of variation estimator proposed by Gau, et al. (1993) is preferred only when the classical OLS assumptions are relaxed. We demonstrate that, even under Greens revised framework, there is not sufficient evidence in the paper to justify this claim. Copyright American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association.