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Blockchain is an emerging digital technology proposed and trialled among different built environment professions. The technology has been proposed to introduce transparency, security and trust in property transactions. Despite this proposition, few studies have analysed the barriers and prospects in property valuation, especially in markets plagued by low transparency and a lack of stakeholder trust. Using Nigeria as a case study, this study assesses the barriers and prospects for adopting blockchain technology in property valuation.

Data was collected from 180 valuers practising in Nigeria through an online survey, and the data was analysed using mean score ranking and the chi-square (χ²) test of independence.

Firstly, there was a low awareness of the application of blockchain technology and an association between the number of valuation jobs executed annually and awareness of the application of blockchain technology. The most important barriers revolved around the knowledge, technical know-how of blockchain and the cost of implementing such technology. The prospects for blockchain are very high as all identified prospects were considered important, with transparency being the most crucial factor for its adoption, followed by the monitoring activities in real time and the permanence in storing records.

This study's implications lie in the potential benefit of transparency identified for blockchain, which could act as a tool to introduce transparency into valuation industries that battle key issues surrounding transparency and trust. Furthermore, this study can be utilised by policymakers and property industry players in mapping strategies to adopt the beneficial use of blockchain as one among the suite of proptech tools disrupting the property valuation scene, in their practice. This also presents an opportunity to draw upon insights from this study to better prepare for using blockchain in property valuation.

This study appears to be the first to empirically assess barriers and prospects for blockchain in property valuation practice. It contributes to the literature by identifying key factors that will deter and/or promote the application of blockchain, an emerging and disruptive digital technology.

Given the significant role played by valuers and the evidence of a lack of independence in some property valuation industries, particularly in emerging markets, this study analyses the issue of client influence in property valuation by providing a valuer-client perspective and measuring the interrelationships between the clients' influence factors to identify causal factors of prominence, which can assist in developing solutions to address the clients' influence issue.

The study used a mixed-method approach. Firstly, interviews were conducted with ten property valuers and five financial institution staff in Nigeria, and the data were subject to thematic analysis using Nvivo 12 software. A matrix questionnaire survey was administered to the valuers, and the responses were analysed using the fuzzy Decision-Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) method.

The results indicate that institutional clients, loan-seeking customers, property valuers and the perception of corruption within the Nigerian environment fuelled the issue of clients' influence. Based on the measurement of the interrelationship between the 14 identified client influence factors, the type of company, perception the public has of the industry, size of the firm, relationship with the client, type of client and regulatory framework were the factors of prominence.

The findings of this study bear huge implications for Nigeria and other similar structured property markets facing the issue of clients' influence in property valuation. With the prominent factors bearing root in a mix of client, valuer and environmental factors such as the valuation structure, process and public perception, there is a need for solutions that level the playing field between institutional clients and valuers, reinforce transparency and establish excellent regulatory standards to address the issue of clients' influence.

This study is the first to measure the interrelationships between the clients' influence factors to identify the prominent causal factors. Accordingly, considering the multi-factors, the research is novel as it focusses on those factors that would likely lead to other factors, thereby providing opportunities to develop solutions that focus on those factors of prominence. Secondly, the study deviates from the narrative on clients' influence in property valuation, which pits it as solely a client or valuer factor, by showing how the interplay of the stakeholders' interests and the environment promotes the issue in a non-transparent property market.

The finance sector and property market challenges in some global regions have been linked to inefficient property valuation practices. As a result, global valuation professional organisations have set up standards and norms to promote efficient and transparent operations in the property valuation industry. Despite these concerns, valuation industries in some countries still face challenges that threaten their smooth operations. One of such is Nigeria, which faces various problems attributable to its valuation process and regulatory system. Consequently, this paper aims to examine the valuation process in Nigeria with a bid to identify the weaknesses in its valuation process and how it contributes to problems identified in the literature.

A qualitative research approach was adopted, and semi-structured interviews were conducted with 12 valuers across different segments of the valuation industry in Nigeria. The data were subjected to thematic analysis using Nvivo 12 software.

Our findings indicate a fundamentally weak valuation system and regulatory system marked by an opaque engagement process, underpricing of valuation services, inefficient domestication of international valuation standards, poor implementation and monitoring system and concerns about the training and certifications to meet global norms. These identified weaknesses contribute to and fuel problems such as client influence and valuation inaccuracy, among others.

The study has some implications for the valuation professional organisations in Nigeria. The valuation professional organisations should devise systems and enact standards that go beyond solely replicating the IVS and RICS Red Book to effective domestication to suit local norms. Given the inefficient implementation and monitoring system, the use of proptech that supplements legal instruments needs to be adopted. Furthermore, the regulations should be strengthened in line with the trends of sustainability, duty of care and use of data as advocated by the IVSC. This will promote trust in the system and allow global stakeholders to transact more confidently with the Nigerian industry, as the current set-up does not evoke sufficient confidence in the system to deliver excellent and transparent valuation assignments.

This study provides perspective from an untransparent property market on the implications of a poor regulatory system and valuation process for valuers and stakeholders who may rely on valuations conducted in such an environment for decision-making. The findings from this study potentially provide input for the valuation professional organisation in Nigeria in identifying the gaps in their framework and current practices and providing some suggestions to promote improvements.

With the increased demand for the application of technology in property activities, there is a growing need for property professionals adept in using digital technology. Hence, it is important to assess the competence of academia in equipping property professionals with digital technology skills. This study, therefore, assesses property academics in Australian universities to identify their level of knowledge and use of digital technology applicable to the property industry.

Online questionnaire surveys were administered to 22 out of 110 property academics contacted through the Australia Property Institute (API) database to achieve this aim. The collected data were analysed using mean score ranking and ANOVA.

The study found that apart from databases and analytics platforms such as Corelogic RP data, price finder and industry-based software such as the Microsoft Office suite and ARGUS software, the academics were not knowledgeable in most identified and sampled proptech tools. Similarly, most proptech tools were not used or taught to the students. It was also found that early career academics (below five years in academia) were the most knowledgeable group about the proptech tools.

Relying on the API database to contact property academics potentially excludes the position of property academics who may not be affiliated or have contacts with API, hence, the findings of this study should be generalised with caution.

The study bears huge implications for the property education sector and industry in Australia; a low knowledge and use of nascent tools such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, blockchain, drones, fintech, which have received intense interest, reveals some level of skill gap of students who pass through that system and may need to be upskilled by employers to meet the current day demand.

In response to the clamour for technology-inclined property professionals, this paper presents itself as the first to assess the knowledge levels and application of digital technology by property academics.

The property valuation process involves the property valuer expressing expertise in reaction to a client' instruction. However, there are instances where clients, driven by self-interest, impose their will to influence valuers into returning property valuation figures that are not the true reflection of the valuer's assessment. This paper set out to revisit the issue of client influence in property valuation by conducting a scoping review to establish key findings, gaps, implications and solutions.

In total, 21 articles on client influence published from 1997 till date were systematically obtained from Scopus, Web of Science, Google Scholar and through citation searching and reviewed through a “Patterns, Advances, Gaps, Evidence for practice and Research recommendations (PAGER)” framework. Further analysis and visualisation were performed using VOSviewer software.

This study found that based on the number of studies, the issue of client influence has received empirical attention, which is few and far between, with financial institutions identified as the major culprits in most of those studies. One core reason for this is the stakes involved in the finance sector, which relies on property valuation for loan disbursement and performance measurement. Furthermore, previous studies have focused on identifying the issue through the lens of the property valuer without giving recourse to the client's perspective on what may drive the issue.

This study provides evidence that the issue of client influence persists, with some elements of bias in the methodology. Furthermore, the solutions proffered have focused on the valuer and have not been tested to ascertain their effectiveness. Future studies can consider examining the issue from the perspective of financial institutions.

This study is one of the first review studies on client influence on property valuation. It is also the first to identify a pattern in client influence studies that points to the issue being perpetuated by financial institutions. Furthermore, it is the first in recent time to reveal how limited study has been conducted in the area as well as the solutions which have neither been tested nor implemented.