Earlier research has found that specialization by real estate agents creates economies of scope for real estate firms. So far, however, no research has addressed this issue at the agent level. The question this research seeks to answer is whether specialization in one side of the real estate...

This article measures overall, allocative, technical, pure technical and scale efficiency levels for a sample of residential real estate brokerage firms using data envelopment analysis, a linear-programming technique. The results suggest that real estate brokerage firms operate inefficiently....

The evolving multifunction role of the real estate broker and the demands being placed upon brokers by both buyers and sellers is increasingly placing brokers in conflict with the laws governing their conduct as agents. This paper examines the nature of this conflict and evaluates proposed...

The purpose of this research is to examine buyer search under different market conditions. We conduct a survival regression analysis of survey data generated by the National Association of Realtors for 1988, 1991 and 1993. We find, in all instances, that economic conditions are the dominant...

This study examines buyer search duration using a national database consisting of transactions conducted with and without the assistance of real estate brokers. The results of this study indicates that information asymmetries are present in the residential real estate market. First-time buyers...

This study focuses on the role of buyer brokers in the home-buying process by examining the effects of brokerage representation on home selling prices and search duration. The results of this study indicate that real estate brokers, no matter the type, have no independent effect on home prices....

Using a multiproduct translog cost function, this paper examines the case for economies of scope and density in the market for residential real estate brokerage services. Earlier research that treated output as a homogeneous commodity reported modest economies of scale for this industry. The...

One of the purposes of the secondary mortgage market is to move funds from areas of capital surplus to areas of capital shortage. If mortgage funds move freely throughout the economy then the price of mortgage funds (the terms of the mortgage) should be the same everywhere. Thus, if the...

This paper presents an analysis of the theories and evidence regarding the structure and performance of the market for real estate brokerage services. Some of the theoretical models found in the literature appear to suffer from logical inconsistencies, while others lack empirical support for...

Evidence from the corporate finance literature indicates that diversified firms trade at a discount to otherwise comparable specialized firms. However, very little research has addressed whether a similar diversification discount might exist in equity REITs that diversify across property types...