Value influencing property characteristics for financial markets
Value influencing property characteristics can be property-specific or market-wide: the former refers to the spatial, physical and legal attributes of the property itself and the latter refers to the characteristics of the market as a whole or the market sector in which the property operates. Fundamentally, the market value of a property reflects its capacity to fulfil a function. If the property is a shop, for example, then its value will be determined by factors such as trading position, length of frontage, accessibility, planning restrictions and tenure. We shall see later how it is important to be able to quantify financially these value factors as part of the valuation processs (comparison adjustment). This is not an easy task and provides substance to the argument that valuation is as much an art as it is a science.
There are two levels of property value analysis: property-specific and market overview. The value of a property is largely determined by its competitive position in the market in which it operates. Therefore, both property-specific and market-wide factors must be considered to delineate the market by investigating property type features such as (single or multiple) occupancy, use, construction types, design, amenities, geographical extent, available substitutes and complementary land uses.
The built environment cannot be treated like a clinical laboratory and in practice variations in valuations will occur. Rates of inflation will alter, market conditions will change the expected rates of return and unforeseen events will happen. The calculations performed in valuations assume ceteris paribus.