Real Estate investment MSc

• Investment Markets

  Investors measure the performance of real estate and decide how much to invest in it against other asset classes. This module sets that context, covering market structures, pricing and performance measurement across equities, bonds and derivative markets. The module extends to analyse alternative real estate markets including infrastructure and applications to real life investing.

• Applied Statistics

  Across all modules in this course you will need good skills in data analysis and an understanding of the statistical methods used in performance analysis, portfolio modelling and risk analysis. This module covers those general techniques leading to assess relationships empirically and build models to forecast take up, rents and development. With emphasis on lab sessions your practical skills are enhanced.

• Appraisal and Financial Modelling

  We begin with the foundations of financial principles and mathematics which apply across all asset classes. You then learn how those techniques are used in cash flow modelling, valuation and investment decisions for real estate investments and developments, both in the UK and around the world. Since real estate is often financed with debt, you will apply financial modelling to understand how senior, junior, equity and mezzanine debt affect returns and risks.

• Economics and Market Analysis

  A course in economics is standard for all Business School students. Here you will learn not only those general economic principles – business cycles, inflation, interest rates, government and central bank policies -  but also how they apply to real estate: drivers of demand for real estate and supply of space,  rent determination and property  yield movements.  The module also covers the urban hierarchy, location, agglomerations and government intervention in the real estate market.

• Portfolios and Asset Allocation

  Two of the biggest questions in real estate are show investors decide how much to invest, and then how they spread their portfolios across markets to deliver target returns and risks. You will learn in depth the performance measurement and portfolio construction techniques which drive those decisions, and how to apply them to portfolios spread across countries, sectors and regions. This module builds on the understanding of drivers of real estate returns from different types of investment vehicle covered in other Term 2 modules.

• Investment Vehicles

  Investors buy into real estate in a variety of forms – by buying buildings directly, through fund managers’ vehicles like Property Unit Trusts or Private Equity Funds, or buy buying shares in listed companies like Real Estate Investment Trusts. In this module you will cover the structures of these different vehicles, how they are modelled and priced, with the costs, returns, risks and liquidity they offer to investors.

• Applied Financial Analysis

  The objective of the module is to address topical issues in real estate investment. You will learn techniques to forecast real estate markets and assess forecast uncertainty. The module covers risk adjusted metrics and investment instruments including property derivatives and tokenisation. The applied nature of the module is completed with an examination of waterfall structures and hands on training on the appraisal software ARGUS and simulations to assess investment risks.

• Debt Finance and Investments

  Debt finance in real estate is a critical factor for investors and for lenders – indeed as the Global Financial Crisis showed, for the financial system as a whole. This module looks at real estate debt from all those angles, exploring with you the impacts of debt on investor returns, the types of debt offered by lenders and the underwriting criteria they use and the features of securitised debt - CMBS and convertible bonds. Extensive use of Excel is made to illustrate the impact of leverage on performance, loan payments, calculate lender risks and default adjusted lender IRRs and to structure a CMBS deal.

In term three you'll study a Business Research Project alongside elective modules of your choice.

• Business Research Project

  The last block of your course, the Business Research Project (BRP), is the one you design and build for yourself. It takes the form of a report of around 8,000 words submitted in August. We see the BRP as your opportunity to have a showpiece which shows potential employers what you know, what you can do, your ability to produce good-quality individual work.

  BRP's come in the full range of forms. To give a few examples:
  Some are about studying trends and review prospects across all real estate markets and making investment recommendations

  • Others examine the performance of investment vehicles and strategies
  • Or look at topical questions (like the impact of e-tailing on real estate, sustainability and building values)
  • Or investigate specific development projects and conversions involving in-depth feasibility analysis, different forms of financing and investor advice
  • and least but not last, the impact of fast moving technology on real estate.

  BRPs have the potential to be published in academic journals or industry magazines. Further, the Investment Property Forum provides an annual prize of £500 for the best dissertation from this programme on a real estate investment topic.

Term 3 Electives

In term three, you also pick a set of three elective topics from around six modules specific to real estate plus a range run by other Bayes Masters programmes – some of them taught on trips to locations outside the UK. So you can focus on:

• Added core real estate topics like building management, sustainability, residential markets.
• Or on the investment aspects of the industry like REITs, real estate funds and portfolio construction.
• Or pick up on more general topics such as private equity and project management taught by experts from other Bayes programmes.

Electives offered in 2023

• Ethics, Society and the Finance Sector
• Family Business
• Hedge Funds
• Mergers & Acquisitions
• Private Equity Investment
• Building Project Management and Procurement
• Residential Investment
• Sustainability in Real Estate.

International electives

• International Real Estate Markets (taught in Dubai, UAE)
• Project Finance and Infrastructure Investment (taught in Madrid, Spain).

Please note that electives are subject to change and availability.