Comparing returns of real estate assets in gateway US markets

Abstract

The main objective of this study is to understand and analyze the risk adjusted returns of office building and portfolios and determine whether institutional real estate investors are allocating capital efficiently. NCREIF data from years 1999 to 2014 years will be analyzed. The data will be split into three proportional classes, upper (Class A), middle (Class B), and tertiary (Class C) classes based on asset price per square foot and then their risk adjusted returns will be analyzed with the Sharpe Ratio. Further, based on these findings, the thesis will determine whether a quantitative measure of building classification can be established. Currently, real estate assets, office or otherwise, are only classified qualitatively