Your client may own non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and ask you for estate planning advice. Would you be caught off-guard and give your client the classic “deer in the headlights” look? Obviously, that would not be prudent. To make sure this doesn’t happen to you, this article uses a FAQ approach to provide you with the background and information you need so that you will understand NFTs and how to give your client sage advice on how to handle them during the client’s lifetime and upon death.
Cardano was launched in October 2017 and by May 2021 has been operational for 44 months. Comparison with its closest rival, Ethereum, reveals that their prices are highly correlated but the change in daily closing prices do not always move in unison. Cardano is also more volatile than Ethereum and In terms of growth Cardano is lagging behind. Cardano’s only saving grace is its transaction fees, which are considerably lower than Ethereum. However, care must be taken in understanding the structure of any data source. In this case three data sources are used and results vary depending on the precision of the price data, particularly Cardano which for a number of years did not trade above one dollar.
Nikolai Siniak, Tom Kauko, Sergey Shavrov, Ninoslav Marina
Abstract The real estate industry is currently undergoing a digital transformation that not only changes its nature in terms of the markets and work environments, but is also influencing its growth. What are the main trends and concerns related to this transformation? To what extent is the real estate industry already prepared for this? This paper reviews the situation in terms of the emergence of a phenomenon known as PropTech. PropTech is characterized by the massive implementation of emerging technology such as home matching tools, drones, virtual reality, building information modelling (BIM), data analytics tools, artificial intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT) and blockchain, smart contracts, crowdfunding in the real estate sector, fintechs related to real estate, smart cities, regions, smart homes and shared economy. This survey of changes in the real estate industry due to PropTech covers four areas: (1) PropTech applications in the real estate industry; (2) implications of PropTech for real estate market transparency; (3) how PropTech could give a region or a company a competitive advantage; and (4) concerns on the wider implications of these changes on a labour market and education. In a plausible scenario, changing the real estate technologies could change system dynamics and improve real estate market transparency. Moreover, it can be asserted that, in a broader sense, PropTech is beneficial for territorial competition and territorial growth strategies. And lastly, under different institutional arrangements, PropTech can affect the changing structure of the real estate market, the demand for hi-tech, new skills as well as emerging policy challenges for the real estate industry.
In developed countries, urban growth has multiplied the demand for investment in basic infrastructure services such as water supply, waste removal, roads and mass transportation. At the same time, decentralization strategies have shifted the responsibility for much of these investments to the local governments. This decentralized investment requires the development of decentralized capital financing. No longer can a central government pay for local investment by raising national taxes or borrowings on international markets and using the funds simply to construct projects at the local level. The introduction of municipal bonds is one of the alternative source of funds to finance the escalating costs of financing local governments. This paper discusses the conditions underlying the development of municipal credit markets, which Malaysia can use to provide a vehicle to narrow the local government’s resource gap through debt funding.
The modern financial technology (“FinTech”) revolution has two features that distinguish it from previous eras of innovation: (1) Consumers have greater access to financial information and applications using smartphones on high-speed networks; and (2) businesses benefit from dramatically lower costs, improved performance, and enhanced options in data storage, computation, and application development. The once monolithic and proprietary financial services industry is being challenged under the zeitgeist of decentralization, disintermediation, and open protocols. Consequently, households in the United States are witnessing the emergence of new options for investment, credit, insurance, and payments. We illustrate how several influential FinTech trends may help address biases and constraints that hamper households in smoothing intertemporal consumption.
The real estate industry has been one of China’s pillar industries over the last two decades, but soaring housing prices and overheated investments have hindered the sustainable development of the economy. Land transfer fee is a critical determinant of housing prices under the current land reserve system in China and also the main revenue resource for local governments. The reliance of local governments on land-leasing fees as their dominant source of revenue is usually referred as “land finance”, which started from fiscal decentralization and tax sharing reform in 1990s and created a mismatch between revenue distribution and expenditure responsibility for local governments. Therefore, against the background of tax sharing reform, this study analyzes the hypothesis that the degree of fiscal decentralization and the land finance phenomenon are important factors causing China’s soaring housing prices. In addition, land finance is the intermediate variable linking tax reform and high housing prices. Using panel data covering 31 provinces and municipality cities in China from 2000 to 2009, the research finds that enlarged fiscal decentralization caused by the reform of the tax-sharing system is an indispensable institutional factor leading to the rapid rise of housing prices. This study presents a comprehensive influence mechanism of fiscal decentralization on housing price, contributing to the understanding of local governments’ behavior and provides recommendations for the future urban development.
Abstract Reinvestment in declining or poor areas is necessary to attract new middle-class residents, reduce concentrated poverty, and improve housing conditions for the poor. Private-sector housing and commercial real estate developers consistently argue that, without assistance from the public sector, projects are not economically feasible. However, fiscal and political constraints make local governments hesitant to provide direct subsidies to developers. Tax increment financing (TIF) is often offered as a politically attractive solution to this complicated development scenario. The expedited nature of TIF allows communities to fund projects and generate development investment through a highly decentralized process, potentially avoiding public involvement. This fiscalization of the development process raises key questions. Are the communities most in need of redevelopment benefiting from TIF, or do they compete for development? How does TIF’s “creative” financing strategy influence political fragmentation? This chapter illustrates these challenges and explores ways the tool can be used to promote inclusionary development practices and support creative affordable-housing strategies.
Combining the location characteristics of provincial capitals and municipalities, from the perspective of fiscal financial decentralization system, the different expansion of local debt financing platform is studied to find out that the degree of financial fiscal decentralization is the main institutional incentives of local financing platform debt expansion difference, and Shanghai and Hangzhou have obvious location advantages. The advantages of these factors may include the development of the financial industry, the development of the Internet and other factors.
This chapter examines the nexus between the housing market and the urban poor. Affordability, tenure security, and good governance were examined. The study has employed questionnaires, focus group discussion, key informant interview, and field observation to collect data. Mixed approaches were used for data analysis. The study has revealed that the poorer segment of the population in the study area has less likely benefited from formal housing schemes. Informal settlement areas seem affordable only to some households who have the economic potential in the early years of land transaction (2003/04-2005/06). Tenure insecurity has reached its climax first with the demolition of about 500 houses in the study kebeles in 2011 and then with the promulgation of the new land lease proclamation No721/2011. Decentralized administration has failed to ensure good governance. Therefore, more attention should be given to revisiting housing development programs and projects, taking preventive measures rather than reactive ones, promoting housing finance, and monitoring the decentralization process.
Darío Cestau, Burton Hollifield, Dan Li, Norman Schürhoff
The effective functioning of the municipal bond market is crucial for the provision of public services, as it is the largest capital market for state and municipal issuers. Prior research has documented tax, credit, liquidity, and segmentation effects in municipal bonds. Recent regulatory initiatives to improve transparency have made granular trade data available to researchers, rendering the municipal bond market a natural laboratory for the study of financial intermediation, asset pricing in decentralized markets, and local public finance. Trade-by-trade studies have found large trading costs, contemporaneous price dispersion, and other deviations from the law of one price. More research is required to understand optimal market design and the impact of post-crisis regulation, sustainability, and financial technology.
Purpose The real estate world finds itself at a tipping point of a transition: a dramatic and irreversible shift in (real estate) systems in society. This paper is a State of the art of Disruption, Blockchain and Real Estate in the Netherlands and international. Design/methodology/approach The following questions were asked to all those involved: What do you think is the essence of Blockchain for real estate? What is the most current situation with respect to Blockchain and real estate from your perspective? Which publications are important from your perspective? What do you expect with respect to the impact of Blockchain on real estate for (social) real estate? What are questions for the future for real estate and Blockchain? In addition, interviews, exploratory conversations and correspondence took place, and the content was peer reviewed. Findings Changes in value concepts affect the valuation of real estate and the thinking about it. The orientation of changing users and owners of real estate affects innovativeness, values and flexibility in managing that property. Orientation on disruption must be seen as proof that the real estate world is able to actually innovate the accumulated assets and consolidate this. The financial and real estate markets are markets that exaggerate through irrational behaviour. Fear of “eat or be eaten” determines people’s behaviour. Financial and thus real estate markets are always unstable and must always be regulated by people and organizations. Research limitations/implications The question that remains is whether it is important to look at disruptive innovations in existing markets or newcomers in the real estate market and Blockchain. The question is whether Blockchain is only a technological disruption, or a real game changer, and whether the entire value chain of the real estate market will embrace it. No two disruptions are the same. Trust in Blockchain is a prerequisite for guiding the predictable form of that disruption where start-up companies use new technology to offer cheaper and inferior alternatives to real estate in the market. You could also talk about anti-fragile value: “Some things benefit from shocks; they thrive and grow when exposed to volatility, randomness, disorder, and stressors and love adventure, risk, and uncertainty. Yet, in spite of the ubiquity of the phenomenon, there is no word for the exact opposite of fragile. Let us call it antifragile” (Taleb, 2012), in other words: attention to disruption and Blockchain creates a viable real estate economy. Practical implications The true meaning of the Blockchain technology for real estate still needs to be investigated. The author is still curious to understand and clarify the value of Blockchain for real estate processes. Doubt continues to exist and is therefore a feeding ground for further research, because we do not know what we have not seen. Social implications Looking at the impact of Blockchain on real estate, a number of conclusions can be drawn. First of all, the relationship between Blockchain and real estate has not yet been proven in practice. It is expected to develop further in the form of registering transaction processes and the DNA passport of a real estate object. Secondly, completeness and transparency are the basic ingredients for trust in the system. Third, real estate wants to remain viable. For this reason, taking the offense is necessary for real estate and management to connect with social demand. Behaviour also leads to new earnings models of the social and economic spin-off of disruptive real estate. If the Dutch real estate sector embraces Blockchain and is able to realize innovations, there are opportunities for real estate entrepreneurs to exploit the disruptive character to provide those new services. Originality/value The way in which disruption, Blockchain and real estate will develop in the coming years are not the only obvious characteristics of a particular era but also its social impact and user behaviour. This also applies to how this real estate transition can best be tracked, guided and utilized in society at the international, national and regional level. Disruptive organizations clearly respond to the viability of the (built) environment and therefore determine competitive strength. This affects the current and future valuation of real estate.
The overall market is in front of a new technological change, where blockchain is the most probable technology that will be implemented. There are several markets that need a technology that bring more efficiency, safety and transparency into the market, for instance the real estate market. The real estate market is highly important to the overall economy due to its size and devastating consequences if it collapses. A real estate crisis often affect and creates financial crises which in turn could lead to economic meltdowns both on a micro- but also on a macrolevel. There are inefficiencies within the real estate market that might cause the crises, such as problems with transparency and illiquidity, high transaction costs, personal biases and slow transaction processes. This master thesis examines the potential of an implementation of blockchain technology on the real estate market and how it might affect the inefficiencies within the market. Blockchain is a new and emerging information technology with several markets and areas suitable for an implementation. Earlier researches on the topic are generally focusing on the technology itself or its implication impacts in the financial sector. This master thesis aims to examine the implications to implement blockchain technology on the real estate market and how an implementation would impact the market. To be able to answer the research questions formulated in the thesis, an extensive literature study has been conducted, and additionally, semi-structured interviews as well as a questionnaire have been performed. The research is primarily contributing with an improved knowledge about blockchain technology and its potentials and challenges on the real estate market. One conclusion from the study is that the technology is most likely capable in changing the real estate market fundamentally, which is why the topic needs to be investigated deeper and to develop the technology further for a successful implementation.
Despite a world awash with liquidity, \n large infrastructure supply gaps exist across developing and \n emerging markets. Infrastructure has been largely \n decentralized to subnational governments in many countries, \n and many policymakers are keenly interested in developing \n subnational bond markets to give subnational governments \n access to private financing for infrastructure. Despite \n this, the transaction costs of bond issuance are still \n prohibitive for many subnational governments to access \n financing. Pooled financing, through regional infrastructure \n funds, municipal funds, or bond banks, has become a \n sought-after solution for helping subnational governments \n access private financing for infrastructure. In the United \n States, municipal bond banks that were established since the \n 1970s have become a cost-effective and stable model for \n expanding subnational financing for many small \n municipalities, while maintaining strong credit ratings with \n virtually no defaults from sub-borrowers. The municipal bond \n banks have been successful in lowering financing costs for \n many small, unrated local governments, with loan sizes as \n low as less than $50,000. This paper examines the policies \n and structures that have made pooled financing successful in \n the United States, including regulatory frameworks, \n governance and managerial systems, the role of project \n appraisal, operations and pricing, and managing the default \n risks of borrowers. The paper also explores broader lessons \n for developing countries that are interested in establishing \n pooled financing for subnational infrastructure.
A number of technological developments may soon transform the way the real estate business is conducted. Among these are technology-enabled marketplaces; internet-connected buildings and systems; machines that act as agents for themselves and the business; machines that learn and adapt their behaviour based on input; ownerless, distributed blockchain ledgers that determine when and how transactions can be completed; and smart contracts built on those blockchain ledgers. But this transformational power may raise new questions of data ownership, privacy, liability, ethics and even legality that organisations should consider before moving forward with implementation. A commitment to research, perhaps led by the office of the CIO but including many business stakeholders including legal counsel, careful evaluation of technologies and services, and testing in the form of limited-scope pilots are some of the keys to avoiding many problems.
Over the past three decade, China has established a housing finance system that borrows from the collective experiences of advanced economies. After examining the evolution of China’s housing finance system, the paper focuses on analyzing its challenges and recent changes. The paper argues that China’s highly-centralized financial system prefers financial stability but neglects financial liberalization, and then resulted in severe financial repression, which hurts the efficiency and equality of the housing finance service. After recovering from the 2008 financial crisis via high-cost financial intervention, China took some policy innovations to promote a decentralized finance mechanism, expand finance resources, and support affordable housing financing, through which China hopes to provide a more stable, affordable, and equal housing finance service to help more households own homes.
Alison Wood, Michael Blackhurst, Desmond F. Lawler
Household sewage causes several problems if not managed properly. Centralized wastewater treatment systems have long been considered the preferred form of sewage treatment, but they can be expensive. Several decentralized wastewater technologies can manage household sewage safely and effectively and may appear to be less expensive than centralized systems on a life cycle cost basis. Homeowners may be reluctant to bear the costs of these technologies, forcing municipalities to weigh the expense of monetary incentives to householders against the costs of centralized systems. Accurate life cycle cost comparisons rely on the use of discount rates representative of the appropriate investors. Centralized systems are typically financed by public municipalities, who use market interest rates or “social” discount rates in life cycle cost calculations, whereas homeowners have been observed to demonstrate much higher “implicit discount rates.” When system costs are compared using appropriate discount rates, decentralized systems might lose their cost advantage. We examine this phenomenon with two case studies. The methodology developed herein can be applied to any case in which centralized and decentralized technologies may be appropriate solutions; it also gives a basis for sound decisions about incentivizing homeowner adoption of decentralized technologies.
THE POLICIES OF THE NEW DEAL DRAMATICALLY changed political economy of nations urban areas, initiating, as one urban historian aptly characterized, the overdevelopment of suburbs and underdevelopment of cities.1 In very quick succession, federal government adopted new and sweeping policies-regulation of financial industry, extensive public works programs building all manner of infrastructure, a dramatic increase in public employment, creation of nationally funded relief for unemployed, financial assistance to states and cities, a national industrial planning effort, an emergency program to refinance homes, development of a national housing program, and many others-each responding to one or more of host of daunting problems brought on by Depression.2 Many of these new federal programs became permanent fixtures in American administrative landscape, laying foundations for new (and different) patterns of economic development in future.Housing policy was especially important in creating basis for wide scale shifts of investments and population as well as dramatic changes in demography of urban core and its suburban rings. New Deal policies, designed to re-establish investment confidence in housing sector as well as to restore employment in home construction in depths of Depression3, achieved these objectives (sometimes, much later) but in so doing brought about large scale disinvestment from housing markets across urban cores of American metropolitan areas while at same time creating a powerful set of incentives for developers to construct, financial institutions to lend, realtors to sell, and large swaths of American social strata to purchase newly developed housing that were located in increasingly decentralized areas away from America's central cities.4One particularly important outcome of these policies is home mortgage redlining-the publicly created disinvestment of a surprisingly large portion of standing housing stock across wide swaths of central city neighborhoods. Historical redlining was geographic in character and resulted from public policies formulated at national level and actions of federal agencies that implemented these policies.5 Federal agencies established empirically based risk assessments of community housing markets based on both quality, amenities, basic structural features, and upkeep of housing stock as well as social class, ethnic, and racial makeup of residents of a neighborhood.6 On basis of these assessments, a large portion of nation's neighborhood housing markets were determined to pose too high a risk for newly established long term, fully amortized mortgages that were created by New Deal legislation. These areas were denied mortgage insurance and redlined. Relatively few neighborhoods, communities where housing at that time was relatively new, had a full complement of amenities and were in good repair, were deemed an acceptable risk. In these areas, mortgage insurance was granted and conventional mortgages were available to purchasers to facilitate exchange of real estate. Additionally, almost all newly constructed housing from this time forward-in suburban locations-would be beneficiaries of this federal insurance program.The New Deal Policy Sources of Mortgage RedliningTwo pieces of New Deal legislation transformed regulation of financial institutions and revolutionized housing financing in U.S. These were Banking Act (1933) and National Housing Act (1934) that respectively created a national system of deposit guaranty and mortgage insurance, and new agencies, Federal Deposit Insurance (FDIC) and Federal Housing Administration (FHA), to implement these programs. The FDIC (and later Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corporation [FSLIC]) and FHA were established as public corporations that were financed not from appropriations from Congress but from fees these agencies were permitted to charge to financial institutions and mortgagees. …