Educators, professional bodies and the future of the valuation profession

Abstract

Purpose Valuers face significant challenges as valuation becomes automated and the role evolves from economic analysis to data handling and processing. The purpose of this paper is to identify new knowledge and skills Valuers will need in the future and the role of professional bodies and educators in meeting future challenges in Australia, although the issues are considered global. Design/methodology/approach This qualitative research sought a deeper understanding of the issues, threats, challenges, opportunities, new areas of practice and knowledge that Valuers were experiencing with a view to identifying the role of professional bodies, industry and educators to meet the challenges. A focus group approach was adopted to collect data from practitioners in Sydney and Melbourne. Findings The roles of the professional body the Australian Property Institute, industry/employers and educators to meet these future challenges were identified. Changes are required to degree programme content in respect of digital technologies and statistical knowledge and skills. Continuing professional development programmes are required to address knowledge and skills gaps in existing practitioners. Research limitations/implications In this study, key limitations were that focus group participants were from Melbourne and Sydney only, and the focus is NSW and Victoria centric, although many participants have international work experience. Overall there was under representation of rural Valuers, of small valuation firms, of young, recently joined or qualified Valuers and females. Originality/value This is original research and highlights some real threats, issues and challenges facing the Australian Valuers. It complements work undertaken by legal and accounting professional bodies who perceive change and uncertainty affecting membership and services. To address and where, appropriate, embrace the changes that are coming and those already here, a manifesto for action for educators and the professional body is established.

Adoption of Automated Valuation Models in Malawi; Valuers' Perception

“…Whilst Blackledge (2009), Mooya (2011) and RICS (2017) believe that valuers may be replaced with the technology hence losing their jobs, argue that despite AVM taking a certain section of the valuation process, valuers will still be relevant in the interpretation, checking and evaluating of the AVM outputs. This view is also shared by Wilkinson, Halvitigala and Antoniades (2018), who opine that the valuation profession will still need valuers who are 'supported by analytics'. However, valuers need to rapidly embrace 'technological advancements' before becoming extinct (Ibid, 2018).…”

Preparing Property Graduates for the Digital Age: Challenges and Strategies from the Perspective of Australian Property Educators

“…The property industry is a complex and intricate system of subjects and disciplines without a clearly defined body of knowledge [9,32]. The success of the property industry is dependent on the ongoing relationship between several stakeholders: education providers to equip students with the relevant skills, graduates to apply the requisite skills to meet client demands, employers to provide jobs and further training for graduates, and policymakers to provide a framework within which the needs of all stakeholders are represented [6,33,34]. Aliu and Aigbavboa [11] reported that the dynamism of presentday clients' needs requires education providers to constantly upgrade the curricula and teaching methods to keep up with trends and continuously produce graduates who can seamlessly transition as technology evolves.…”

“…The process of property valuation has progressively shifted from manual to automated approaches [25,27,37]. In particular, automated valuation models (AVMs) are increasingly limiting the need for trained professionals to determine the value of properties for mortgage and sale purposes, a dynamic that is slowly transforming the practice into more of a science than an art [34,37]. In Australia, industry leaders such as CoreLogic, APM Price Finder, and Monitor now adopt AVMs as standard practice [17].…”

“…With the property industry being generally regarded as a slow-moving asset class with conservative stakeholders, the rate of adopting technological tools has lagged compared with the rest of the market [24,42]. As economies become more digitised and data become more readily available, there are calls for all property market stakeholders to evolve their practices and competencies [24,34,36]. However, Parker [15] highlighted a worrying trend of higher education institutions in Australia employing the cheapest available resources to deliver their property courses as more experienced academics retire, citing the casualisation of teaching as a particular issue of note.…”

“…With more firms and industry providers adopting technological tools to automate core tasks and keep up in the digital age, education providers must redesign curricula to reflect dynamic client needs [5,19,34]. Additionally, these advancements highlight the potential risk of redundancy to future property professionals.…”