Research Highlights

“Shariah Compliance in Real Estate Investment” by Muhd Faishal Bin IBRAHIM & ONG Seow Eng

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“Extrapolation Theory and the Pricing of REIT Stocks" by Joseph OOI, James R. WEBB & ZHOU Dingding

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“Modeling The Structure of CV Formation and Expectations: The Commercial Retail Real Estate Sector" by HO Kim Hin, David

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"The Cyclical Association of Residential Price and Consumption" by SUN Jingbo, SIM Loo Lee & HO Kim Hin, David

Editorial Team

CHENG Fook Jam
HAN Sun Sheng
David HO
KO Chen
ONG Seow Eng
Joseph OOI
SING Tien Foo

Department of Real Estate
National University of Singapore
4 Architecture Drive
Singapore 117566

28 students went on a field trip to Beijing, China as part of the requirements of RE5011 (International Field Study). The activities in Beijing included site visits specific to residential, commercial and industrial developments, lectures on selected real estate topics and Beijing city, and project consultation and discussion. These activities helped the students to link theory with practice as they came to grips with the socioeconomic, demographic and political dimensions that underlie the real estate processes at the international level, in particular Beijing.

MSc (Real Estate) - Students from Dubai

The MSc.(Real Estate) program had its first January intake early this year. Among the 19 students who enrolled in the program are six students from Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Sponsored by their employer, Sama Dubai, which is part of Dubai Holding, the six students have adjusted well to the Singapore climate and lifestyle. One of the students, Ms. Rema Mohammad Ali Abdulrahman says “I find that living in Singapore is similar to Dubai. However, in Singapore, you have an efficient public transport system. About the program, I find that I am able to cope with the course work load. The classmates are great and I am able to communicate with them. I do not have any cultural shock.” Similar to Rema, her classmates from Dubai look forward to an enriching learning experience in Singapore. The six of them had just come back from Beijing as part of the International Field Study module.

MBA in Real Estate: New Internship Module RE5012 Integrative Field Project

A new graduate internship module, RE5012, will be offered to MBA students specializing in real estate with effect from AY2006/07. Under this three-month field study module, candidates will be tasked to solve real-world problems in leading real estate organizations under the supervision of industry and academic advisors. An important learning outcome is that students successfully integrate theories in business and real estate with practice. Our first batch of candidates has all been placed at firms such as GIC Real Estate, Far East Organization, GuocoLand and Ascendas for their internship from 7 May to 3 August 2007.
 

Farewell Tea for B.Sc. (Real Estate) Final Year Students

As part of its Student-Alumni Relations (SAR) initiative, the Department organized a farewell tea for the graduating RE Class of 2007 on 29 March. The event was hosted by A/Prof Sim Loo Lee, the department head, who shared with the graduating students some valuable tips on climbing the corporate ladder. Ms Gweyn Foo and Mr Samuel Lim, two former graduates from the RE Class of 2004, also shared personal experience of their transition from university to the working world. This was followed by a wonderful time of interaction between the students, staff and alumni during the tea session.

Each student also received from the department a specially designed “mug” with the names of the students and academic staff printed on it to remind them of their time and friends in NUS.
 

Summer Programme - China, 2007

Each year, the department organizes a summer programme for the undergraduate students. It is an elective module which involves one-week of intensive seminar in Singapore, followed by a two-week field trip to an overseas market. The focus of this year’s summer programme is on the Chinese real estate markets in Shanghai, Suzhou and Hangzhou. Through their participation in this module, the students acquire first hand knowledge on the market dynamics of one of the fastest growing real estate markets in the world. They are also required to conduct the independent field project concerning the metropolitan real estate market in China.

28 third year students have signed up for the coming summer programme, which starts from mid May. The students will attend lectures by professors from NUS as well as Tongji University, Fudan University and Zhejiang University as well as attending supervised visits to key players, development projects and sites of interest in and around the Shanghai metropolitan region. Upon their return to Singapore, they will take another three weeks to finalize their field trip report. A/Prof Sim Loo Lee and A/P Joseph Ooi will be leading the group.
 

We are happy to note that our DRE Public Talk Series are very popular and they are strongly supported by industry, international and government experts. In the 12 months to June 2007, the talks are concerned with topical and prevailing issues of high interest relating to real estate finance in the Asian and global context. For a good sense of such talks, you can take a look at them in the attached files.

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Jointly organised by the Department of Real Estate and the Real Estate Committee of BEMS, the competition was aimed at identifying a catchy, unique, and memorable tagline to brand the BSc (Real Estate) programme.

A panel of judges led by Assoc Prof Sim Loo Lee, Head of DRE, selected the winning entry to be “Real Estate, REally REwarding”. 

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Congratulations to
Assoc Prof Ong Seow Eng on his promotion to Full Professor with effect from 1 July 2007.

Congratulations to
Dr Lum Sau Kim on her promotion to Associate Professor with effect from 1 July 2007.
 

Samuel Lim always knew that he wanted to be a consultant, even while he was an undergraduate at NUS.

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We are delighted to inform that Assoc Professor Joseph Ooi has been awarded an Annual Teaching Excellence Award for academic year 2005/06.

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APRU Real Estate Research Symposium

The Association of Pacific Rim Universities (APRU) Real Estate Research Symposium will be held in Singapore from July 16 - 17, 2007. The National University of Singapore Department of Real Estate will host this symposium with co-organizers University of Hong Kong (HKU), University of Southern California (USC) and Tsinghua University (THU) as supporting universities.

In previous years, this symposium was organized by HKU and NUS and it is becoming a platform of choice for real estate researchers in Asia. This year's symposium is no exception. More than 20 quality papers have been received and the program committee will be finalizing the selection of papers for presentation. Discussants will be designated for all papers, and papers will be independently reviewed subsequently for their suitability for publication in a special issue of The Journal of Real Estate Finance & Economics (JREFE).

In addition, a number of distinguished professors will be attending the symposium. As one member of the program committee noted, "We have a group of very high quality submission this year. I am looking forward to the eclectic and interesting presentations and discussions in July."

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