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Purpose -This study seeks to determine an appropriate form of yield analysis as a means of improving the supply of low cost rental housing within Australia. Design/methodology/approach -Rental returns are quantified on a disaggregated basis based on the amalgamation of three major government property databases.Findings -Much of the information on returns in low cost rental housing is based on erroneous assumptions. More accurate reporting of returns would put in place the appropriate risk premium for investment in low cost rental housing. Originality/value -The study adds value by allowing policy makers to better understand the nature of returns required to increase the level of investment in the low cost end of the private rental market.

This paper is concerned with spatial effects of time on the market for residential property and time varying relationships using a dataset of properties from the Adelaide metropolitan area, Australia, during the period 2002-2011. The analysis firstly considers the spatial dependence in time on the market and secondly extends the analysis to a space-time model using 2SLS regression. The findings demonstrate the complexity in spatial analysis with results indicating a random distribution of time on the market in 86% of observations a pattern that is consistent over time. Spatial autocorrelation is shown to increase time on the market in the subject property while spatial error decreases time on the market in the subject property suggesting a high level of market transparency and improved liquidity. The compensating or nullifying effects of both types of spatial association is shown to contribute to the random distribution observed in time on the market. A strong explanatory capacity of the business cycle suggests that economic drivers are leading time on the market rather than prices.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the effectiveness of this legislative reform in the state of South Australia (SA) through an examination of the relationship between listed or advertised price and transaction prices before and after the changes in regulation. Between 2000 and 2008, legislative changes took place throughout Australia to make real-estate transactions more transparent and to deal with misleading conduct by real-estate agents. The practice of “charm” or “bait” pricing was targeted. This denotes the under-quoting of estimated selling prices in real-estate sale advertisements which can be considered deceptive or even fraudulent. Design/methodology/approach – The study area is Adelaide, the state capital of SA and includes analysis of first and last advertised prices and eventual selling price for > 120,000 residential sales transactions over a nine-year period between 2003 and 2011. The analysis to test these hypotheses included, first, a descriptive evaluation of the percentage price difference over time and a spatial breakdown of mean percentage price difference before and after legislation. Second, for each hypothesis, the change was tested by measuring the variance of the percentage change, with significance established through the Levene and Brown–Forsythe tests, rather than by the mean percentage change. Findings – The results, both descriptive and statistical, support the effectiveness of the reform in legislation. Research limitations/implications – The study has application in terms of agents as social gatekeepers and confirms the role of regulation to ensure market values are achieved and consumers not disadvantaged. With friction in the market, imperfect information and the possible behavioural responses of land agents, there may be incomplete market correction of underpricing strategies. This paper confirms the effectiveness of one such market intervention. Social implications – Some half a million dwellings are purchased in Australia every year. Annually, in the state of SA, some 53,000 dwellings are financed to be purchased or built. These levels of purchase reflect national home ownership rates of about 69 per cent, with some 33 per cent of Australians owning their houses outright and a growing number, some 36 per cent, owners with a mortgage. Australian households also move house relatively frequently. In 2008, 43 per cent of Australians reported moving in the previous 5 years, 15 per cent had moved 3 or more times. The most common reasons for moving were twofold, either to buy a house or to buy a bigger house. These levels of purchase, home ownership and mobility underpin the importance and viability of some 10,000 real-estate services businesses in Australia; a sector which, up to 2,000, was largely self-regulated. Originality/value – This paper is one of the first in Australia to effectively quantify the success of legislative reform on residential agency behaviour.

Using a case study of one insurance company's exposure from static caravans we propose a methodology for flood risk assessment at multiple sites nested within a national framework. Following a source-pathway-receptor approach, a mixture of statistical and physically based methods is used in a systems based model which incorporates the most important random processes associated with flood damage. Within the system meteorological inputs are modelled statistically using a conditional dependence model; the water level, floodplain inundation and damage calculations are deterministic; and the impact of flood defence failure is considered probabilistically. The methodology explicitly couples spatial dependencies between variables affecting flood risk at national and local scales. The output is greater understanding of risk, and the associated uncertainties, which can be used to inform decision making.