Karen M. Gibler

A test of corporate real estate strategies and operating decisions in support of core business strategies

If firms want corporate real estate resources to add value to the firm, they must align corporate real estate strategies and decisions with core business strategies. This research uses data from a survey of corporate real estate managers to test a theoretical model of how a strategic approach to corporate real estate management adds value to the firm. The relative importance of alternative strategies among firms of difference sizes operating in different industries during an economic recession is also examined. Correlation analysis indicates good fit; that is, most firms are following a consistent set of real estate strategies to support either Revenue Growth or Profitability Growth, which lends support to the theoretical model. In addition, most firms are making office space decisions consistent with a strategic corporate real estate management approach rather than resorting to ad hoc real estate decisions during the recession. A majority of the firms are pursuing profitability through cost reduction, productivity and flexibility, rather than revenue generation, focusing on survival during the economic downturn. Kruskal–Wallis H tests of significant differences among the rankings of the strategies and follow-up Mann–Whitney U tests indicate that larger firms are more likely to be reducing costs during the recession.

Making the decision to move to retirement housing

Factors such as retirement and declining health may trigger older Americans to move into retirement housing. Most mature consumers make this decision in consultation with their family. Understanding the timing and decision‐making process is necessary to properly position and promote retirement housing. A national survey of retirement housing residents found that most moves were prompted by financial considerations, retirement, and health problems. Although most seniors made the final decision to move themselves, children and physicians were influencers. Thus, retirement housing must be promoted to family members and health care workers as well as potential residents.

Elderly interest in home equity conversion

Abstract Few elderly homeowners liquidate their home equity to fund consumption. This article examines whether attitudes about housing, independence, and finances affect a homeowners interest in home equity conversion. The results of a nationwide survey of elderly homeowners were analyzed by logistic regression to ascertain the relationship between interest in home equity conversion and economic, demographic, and attitudinal characteristics. The results indicate that elderly homeowners most interested in home equity conversion own houses valued at

Late life second move housing choices of international retiree migrants

50,000 or less, are concerned about maintaining independence but not homeownership, and are not very concerned about future medical expenses. Thus, societal norms for maintaining single‐family homeownership and medical assistance programs that exempt home equity from requirements that participants spend all their assets to be eligible may be inhibiting the growth of home equity conversion programs.

Preferences for Korean seniors housing

Purpose – Many international retirement migrants are amenity movers undertaking the first move in the late life course model of migration. The purpose of this paper is to examine second moves within the retirement destination community to test whether the model of late life course migration accurately portrays the motivations and housing choices local movers make after retiring to another country.Design/methodology/approach – The paper combines secondary data and survey results to examine the composition of the retiree migrant population in the Alicante province of Spain. The socioeconomic characteristics and housing choices of those who have made a second move since retiring to Spain are compared with those who have not moved through a series of t‐tests and chi‐square tests.Findings – The paper finds that those who have made a second move within Spain are somewhat typical of second movers in the late life course. They are likely to cite mobility or health problems as a reason for moving and appear to rec...

Asymmetric buyer information influence on price in a homogeneous housing market

The Republic of Korea is experiencing demographic, economic, and cultural changes that may create demand for seniors housing in the coming decades. The population is rapidly ageing; pension income is becoming more prevalent; and attitudes are changing about co‐residence. More people are expressing interest in housing that allows for privacy and independence from family members. These changes indicate potential demand for alternatives such as seniors housing. To help specify demand models for seniors housing in South Korea, a survey of urban residents aged 50 and older is presented to identify preferences among those who are planning to live in seniors housing. Results indicate higher income, healthy South Koreans are more likely to plan to live in seniors housing. They are interested in housing that provides personal care, home care, social, and security services, without the financial and physical maintenance burden of a traditional home.

Using preferences for international retiree housing market segmentation

Buyers often pay different prices for almost identical houses. One possible explanation is that there are information asymmetries in housing markets. Perhaps, buyers from outside the area have higher search costs and know less about the local market relative to that of current residents. In addition, an out-of-town buyer’s price expectations could be anchored to market prices in their town of origin. This study examines the effect of buyer heterogeneity in the form of geographic location on house prices. We use a new data set to examine the non-local buyer information asymmetry and anchoring hypothesis. Using transaction data from a large development in Chengdu, China, our empirical models are estimated with relatively homogeneous units sold over a short period of time by one seller to minimise possible bias resulting from omitted variables. Our results support the hypotheses that non-local buyers pay higher prices and that high price anchoring occurs.

Testing a forecast model to predict movement of older Americans into retirement housing

Economic theory tends to classify all retirees as a homogeneous group of consumers because of their stage in the life cycle. To examine how understanding consumer preferences of this population could improve housing demand models, we use cluster analysis to stratify international retiree migrant homeowners in Alicante, Spain. From the resulting clusters, we identify relationships between homeowner characteristics and housing preferences. We find three clusters of homeowners who vary significantly in their housing preferences and who can be identified using demographic and economic characteristics.

The asymmetric wealth effects of housing market and stock market on consumption in China

Purpose – Expectations of an aging population increases the need for accurate models and reliable forecasts of housing demand in the later stages of life. This paper aims to examine whether the only published forecasting model predicts the actual movement of older Americans into retirement housing.Design/methodology/approach – A logistic regression model is used to test which older movers chose retirement housing using data from the 2002 and 2004 Health and Retirement Survey.Findings – Age is found to have a positive relationship with the choice to move into retirement housing, but the other socioeconomic variables are not significant and the model is not robust.Research limitations/implications – More investigation is necessary to identify the variables that will provide a reliable estimate of those choosing retirement housing. Segmented by housing type may be necessary rather than estimating total retirement housing demand.Originality/value – The paper tests whether a model previously used to forecast s...

Examining Retirement Housing Preferences Among International Retiree Migrants

We analyze consumption movements as a function of income and wealth (stocks and housing) with data from China from 1999 to 2010 using a panel vector autoregression model. We find that housing wealth has a negative impact on consumption, but the link is minor, so fluctuation in the housing market should not create sharp movements in consumption. House price control policies implemented in China may encourage limited spending on other goods. Moreover, we find an asymmetric response of consumption to stock market changes. There is a positive response to upward stock wealth change, but no response to downward stock wealth change. Because the results indicate that stock wealth, housing wealth, and consumption Granger cause one another, the Chinese government could influence the stock market and consumption through control of housing prices; the government could also foster the development of the stock market so as to attract investment out of housing, which would help control housing prices. Our results using two different measures of housing wealth and two measures of consumption suggest caution is necessary to avoid inflated wealth effect estimations if inappropriate variables are selected.