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Improving valuation accuracy, especially for sale and acquisition purposes, remains one of the key targets of the global real estate research agenda. Among other recommendations, it has been argued that the use of technology-based advanced valuation methods can help to narrow the gap between asset valuations and actual sale prices. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the property valuation methods being adopted by Australian valuers and the factors influencing their level of awareness and adoption of the methods.

An online questionnaire survey was conducted to elicit information from valuers practising in Australia. They were asked to indicate their level of awareness and adoption of the different property valuation methods. Their response was analysed using frequency distribution, χ² test and mean score ranking.

The results show that the traditional methods of valuation, namely, comparative, investment and residual, are the most adopted methods by the Australian valuers, while advanced valuation methods are seldom applied in practice. The results confirm that professional bodies, sector of practice and educational institutions are the three most important drivers of awareness and adoption of the advanced valuation methods.

There is a need for all the property valuation stakeholders to synergise and transform the property valuation practice in a bid to promote the awareness and adoption of advanced valuation methods, (e.g. hedonic pricing model, artificial neural network, expert system, fuzzy logic system, etc.) among valuers. These are all technology-based methods to improve the efficiency in the prediction process, and the valuer still needs to input reliable transaction data into the systems.

This study provides a fresh and most recent insight into the current property valuation methods adopted in practice by valuers practising in Australia. It identifies that the advanced valuation methods could supplement the traditional valuation methods to achieve good practice standard for improving the professional valuation practice in Australia so that the valuation profession can meet the industry’s expectations.

The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of a soft facility practice in the organized retail sector. In specifics, it draws context from a security practice and assesses its effect on customers’ satisfaction and patronage in retail properties.

The research method is quantitative. The study used a survey research design with the use of a structured questionnaire for data collection. The data were collected from the head of households who purchase items in the retail shops. It applied a logistic regression model to estimate customers’ satisfaction and the effect of the current security practice on patronage.

Contrary to expectation, descriptive analysis of data shows that respondents were satisfied with the security procedure with weighted means scores (3.62, 3.74, 3.78 and 3.66) above average for bag check at exits, reconciliation of receipts with purchase, the attitude of security personnel during exit checks and time taken during exit checks. With specific reference to bag checks at the exit, logit shows that 32% were neutral while 8% were dissatisfied with the security practice. Among the dissatisfied, logit shows an odds ratio of 0.059, which implies that they are likely to verbally express their dissatisfaction with the shop. On the other hand, the chances that they would not do this are more likely with an odds ratio of 162818201.343. Further, continuous patronage (Loyalty) is strongly less likely with an odds ratio of 1.250E-22. This was corroborated by a similar odd ratio of 4.068E-11 estimated for those that would take the exit option due to the bag’s check.

The limitation of this study is that samples were randomly drawn from an unknown population of customers. However, the study was guided by Cochran (1963) to select a valid representative sample and support the reliability of the research findings.

The findings on satisfaction imply that the convenience and swiftness associated with shopping in a retail shop had been eroded by the current security facility practices which may lead to a reduction in the growth and retail sector turnover. While many dissatisfied customers would have exited if there are alternative shops with more customer-friendly security practices, the limited number of organized retail shops in the study area will prevent this from happening.

Literature on the management of facilities in real estate is quite vast; however, not much attention has been paid to the management of security in the retail sector particularly in Nigeria. This study is, therefore, novel, as it provides seminal evidence on this important topic and will serve as a reference for further research in Nigeria.

Beyond contributing to literature, research findings are expected to reinforce existing best practices while also serving as a springboard for formulating new and more efficient methods of undertaking economic activities. However, academic research is sometimes divorced from implementation and research findings are not always translated into practice. This study, therefore, assesses the impact of real estate research activities and findings on the practice of real estate surveying and valuation in Nigeria as the largest real estate market in Africa.

An online questionnaire survey was conducted to obtain relevant data from Estate Surveyors and Valuers across the country. The survey questions cover reading of academic papers from the field of real estate and the reasons for doing so; whether they have made any changes to their professional practice based on findings from academic papers; and possible barriers to adoption academic research findings in your practice. Mean score ranking and principal component analysis were employed for data analysis.

Out of a total of 61 participants, only 35 have made a change to their professional practice based on findings from academic papers they have read. “Personal development and enlightenment” ranks first on the list of reasons for reading academic papers among the participants while barriers to the adoption of academic research findings relate mainly to education, dissemination and lack of guidance on how to apply research findings.

The study demonstrates how findings from real estate research are being applied and identifies possible barriers that must be addressed to improve the level of application and consequently, the value of academic studies.

The study provides evidence on barriers to the adoption of academic research and contributes to the global effort to bridge the gap between academia and practice.

This study assesses the classification accuracy of an artificial neural network (ANN) model. It examines the application of loan recovery probability rather than odds of default as the case with traditional credit evaluation models.

Data on 2,300 loans granted over the period 2001-2012 was obtained from the databases of Nigerian commercial banks and primary mortgage institutions. A multilayer feed-forward ANN model with back-propagation learning algorithm was developed having classified the sample into training (38 per cent), testing (41 per cent) and validation (21 per cent) sub-samples.

The model exhibits a high overall percentage classification accuracy of 92.6 per cent. It also achieves relatively low misclassification Type I and Type II errors at 6.5 per cent and 8.2 per cent, respectively. Macroeconomic variables such as gross domestic product, inflation and interest rates have the strongest influence on the ANN model classification power. The result of the analysis shows that adopting odds of recovery in ANN classification models can lead to improved loan evaluation.

The paper is distinct from extant studies in that it presents a new dimension to loan evaluation in Nigerian lending market. To the best knowledge of the authors, the paper is among the first to explore probability of loan recovery as the basis for credit evaluation in the country.