What is different about the body of real estate knowledge in Africa and Latin America

Real estate education across the globe has, at its core, certain universal and value-neutral skills and knowledge. This knowledge has developed over decades to reflect the functions of specific market structures which characterise real estate markets. Moreover, it is reflective of the maturity of property markets, and as such, the tools developed reflect specific market structures and the players that function in them. Real estate analysts are becoming increasingly interested in real estate markets in emerging markets/economies, particularly in Africa. The challenge facing these property practitioners is that dominant real estate theory and related practices are based on mature markets within an industrialised context and therefore do not accurately reflect real estate markets and decision making in emerging economies. The context of real estate markets in emerging economies often tend to be characterised by a low level of market maturity characterised by dual economies , a lack of market transparency, high levels of uncertainty, and the existence of communal/customary and informal rights in the ownership of real estate. In light of this, it is argued that real estate theories and taught curriculum should better reflect the peculiarities and level of maturity of the markets they attempt to analyse.Through the application of qualitative, semi-structured interview surveys with academics from several prominent African and Brazilian institutions specialising in real estate, this research examines the academic syllabus taught by universities in order to assess the degree to which local real estate markets are integrated into university programmes in these countries. The research is based on data gathered at the African Real Estate Society and Latin American Real Estate Society annual conferences in 2019.