Jack H. Rubens

Portfolio Considerations in the Valuation of Real Estate

When a real asset rises in price faster than inflation (as real estate did in the late 1970s) and rises significantly in price over an extended period (as real estate has done for the last decade and one-half), it concerns valuation and investment professionals who fear about it being over-valued. One of the reasons for such price performance may be an increase in demand due to the portfolio characteristics of the asset during the period of time in question. For real estate this means the proportion included in optimal portfolios should be significant and increasing as individual tax rates increase in an environment of increasing average tax rates.This study uses six tax brackets (0%, 10%, 20%, 30%, 40%, 50%) and portfolios consisting of three traditional assets (NYSE common stocks, corporate bonds and small stocks) plus three types of real estate (residential, business and farmland) to demonstrate that this is what has transpired in the real estate markets. Optimal portfolio weights are derived for each asset for after-tax portfolios. Real estate in general and residential real estate especially increased as a proportion of the optimal after-tax portfolio as individual tax rates increased. Other studies are used to demonstrate an environment of increasing average tax rates. Copyright American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association.

The Effect of Alternative Return Measures on Restricted Mixed-Asset Portfolios

A restricted portfolio is constructed which includes NYSE common stocks, corporate bonds, government bonds, small capitalization common stocks, residential real estate and farmland and returns for each of four different tax brackets (0%, 15%, 30%, 45%). Next, three alternative measures of rates of return for residential real estate and farmland are used. Finally, since some researchers believe that standard risk measures (variance and standard deviation) do not capture the total risk in real estate, the risk for the real estate returns is increased five times while the returns are held constant. The twenty-four optimal portfolios (four tax brackets with two measures of risk and three measure of return for residential real estate and farmland) are then derived. These results are then compared and contrasted to each other to ascertain the change in sensitivity of the optimal portfolios due to different tax rates, different rates-of-return estimates and different risk estimates. Copyright American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association.

Farmland as an Inflation Hedge

As inflation declined in the late 1980s from the double-digit rates of previous years, investor concerns of rising price levels diminished. However, viewed from the longer historical perspective of post-WWI performance, inflation has been at significant levels since the late 1960s. A major concern of investors is that their wealth portfolio provide positive real rates of return. During periods of inflation, some investiments increase in value more quickly than others, while some decrease in value.

The Effect of Unbundling Asset Returns on Restricted Mixed-Asset Portfolios

Research on mixed-asset portfolios has attracted increased attention in recent years (Brueggeman et al., 1984; Friedman, 1971; Hartzell and Webb, 1988; Webb et al., 1988; Webb and Rubens 1986, 1988). A mixed- asset portfolio is simply a portfolio that contains different types of assets, both financial (such as bonds and equities) and real (such as real estate). Many institutional investors (for example, life insurance companies, pension funds, and bank trust departments) cannot invest in all types of assets, due to various state and federal laws, as well as ERISA. Hence, their portfolios are “restricted.

Commercial Lending Officer and Small Business Client Relationships

This article presents the results of an April 1986 mail survey of small business firms in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, concerning the relationship with their commercial bank lending officer. The survey examined loan types and rates, types of collateral,and bank and officer characteristics. Results indicate that 1) secured lines of credit were the most common loan type, 2) the reputation of the bank was the most important characteristic, 3) personal guarantees were the most common collateral type, and forty small businesses rely heavily upon the expertise and support of their commercial lending officers the businesses would seldom change banks for a half percent rate advantage.