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Real Estate Economics and Investment Analysis MSc

London, Stratford (UCL East)

The MSc in Real Estate Economics and Investment Analysis (REEIA) is designed to equip students with an understanding of the economics of the real estate market and give them the skills to use data to make informed investment decisions.

UK students International students
Study mode
UK tuition fees (2023/24)
£21,200
£10,600
Overseas tuition fees (2023/24)
£32,100
£16,050
Duration
1 calendar year
2 calendar years
Programme starts
September 2023
Applications accepted
All applicants: 17 Oct 2022 – 31 Mar 2023

Applications closed

Entry requirements

UK Bachelor’s degree in a numerate subject (e.g. Economics, Engineering, Natural Sciences, Computer Science) awarded with at least an Upper Second-class Honours (2:1), or an overseas qualification of an equivalent standard. If the Bachelor’s degree is in a non-numerate discipline, the candidate may be accepted if they have professional experience in a numerate field.

The English language level for this programme is: Level 2

UCL Pre-Master's and Pre-sessional English courses are for international students who are aiming to study for a postgraduate degree at UCL. The courses will develop your academic English and academic skills required to succeed at postgraduate level. International Preparation Courses

Further information can be found on our English language requirements page.

Equivalent qualifications

Country-specific information, including details of when UCL representatives are visiting your part of the world, can be obtained from the International Students website.

International applicants can find out the equivalent qualification for their country by selecting from the list below. Please note that the equivalency will correspond to the broad UK degree classification stated on this page (e.g. upper second-class). Where a specific overall percentage is required in the UK qualification, the international equivalency will be higher than that stated below. Please contact Graduate Admissions should you require further advice.

About this degree

  • A unique new master's programme, combining theoretical insights with practical applications
  • Teaching is pioneering a focus on theory and data-driven decision making 
  • The programme teaches collecting, processing and interpreting data in the property market 
  • Classes are based on real life problems being addressed using the latest academic thinking

Who this course is for

The course is open to students with some experience of university-level mathematics or/and statistics.

Read about what it takes to study for a Master's at UCL

What this course will give you

Real estate is an important asset class. It is the most popular alternative to stocks and bonds and has an important place in investment portfolios of most investors seeking diversification. In fact, in most countries the property market has a higher market capitalisation than the stock market and comprises over 60% of the average household's wealth. Therefore, both economics and financial economics of the real estate market are rapidly growing fields. At the same time, while availability of data has been hindering progress of research in this area for decades, recent developments in data collection and analysis offer opportunities recognized by academics and practitioners alike. This programme offers an in depth understanding of how this market works and how its constant changes can be analysed using data.

MSc REEIA has three aims:

  • Develop an in-depth understanding of how real estate markets work based on the latest academic research.
  • Provide cutting edge analytical frameworks for data driven investment decision making.
  • Apply modern methods to collect and interpret property market data.
Read about what you'll get out of a graduate programme

The foundation of your career

Through events aimed at industry and alumni organised by The Bartlett School of Sustainable Construction, you will have the opportunity to meet like-minded professionals in the field. Each year the School also hosts a series of careers events for students - including CV and interview skills sessions, a dedicated Careers Fair, site visits and an alumni panel event. UCL Careers also offers a regular programme of careers fairs and practical sessions on careers advice.

Employability

The course is purposefully open-ended in the sense that it offers skills applicable in multiple industries and sectors. While many students may target jobs in the financial industry, actual job destinations may vary. One unifying theme is that careers will be relying on analytical and technical skills as well as an understanding of the recent developments in real estate research.

Teaching and learning

Teaching is designed to support each of the key outcomes:

  1. Remember: this is facilitated by standard lecture-style teaching mostly in the first part of the programme. To make this more engaging students will be exposed to different approaches to the same problem.
  1. Understand: this is achieved by a practical approach in specific modules and lectures that complement the lectures. Practical examples and descriptive case studies are the core of this style of teaching.
  1. Apply: in seminars accompanying theoretical and practical lectures studies will learn how to apply their problems to hypothetical (through problem sets and exercises) and real problems (through teaching case studies).
  1. Analyse: the opportunity to analyse comes mainly in the second part of the programme. Here the knowledge and skills will be applied to make connections between important ideas, question the assumptions and select optimal solutions. This will be essential for problem-based group work.
  2. Evaluate: this is facilitated by exposure to peers and within-cohort competition/comparison. All modules are designed to facilitate group work and continuous peer assessment to provide a critical perspective on the understanding of the key concepts. The work of classmates provides an excellent benchmark for own understanding of the material.

Teaching is designed to support a mix of theoretical knowledge, practical skills and experiential learning. In particular, the programme adopts a problem-based approach to teaching technical skills and focuses on achieving and interpreting outcomes rather than understanding the details of processes. There is no single module dedicated to technical skills. Instead, these skills are taught as solutions to problems posed by theory or practice.

Around 20% of students' time is spent in lectures and tutorials, 50% on assignments and coursework and the remainder in independent study.

Modules

MSc in Real Estate Economics and Investment Analysis will run in two stages. First, it will give the students a basic understanding of economic/financial concepts in the context of real estate and train them in using transferable technical skills such as elementary programming and basic research methods. The second part of the course will build on this and develop an advanced understanding of how these skills are applied in practise, what are their limitations and how they can be adjusted to achieve different goals.

The first part of the course is based around the following modules:

  • Real Estate and Urban economics – basic theories of economics applied to location decisions of households and firms. 
  • Financial economics of Real Estate – basic principles of financial economics applied to real asset pricing and mortgage finance. 
  • Real Estate data analysis – current research issues and challenges in real estate practice and the tools to solve them (econometrics and coding skills).

The second part comprises of:

  • Analytical property valuation – different approaches to value an asset in different sectors of the property market. 
  • Property investment analysis – the concept of risk and return estimation in real estate, portfolio optimization and forecasting methods. 
  • Real Estate asset management – different strategies to increase the economic value of an asset by increasing its operational efficiency.

In addition, the programme could be able to take advantage of the existing offering of optional modules at the Bartlett School. The most relevant modules include ‘Infrastructure as an asset class’ and ‘Economics of speculative development projects’. The list of optional modules unique to the School of Sustainable Construction offers a clear opportunity to focus on built assets. This is a unique offering on the market as it allows understanding the supply side of the real estate market much better than other programmes and gives a real estate programme housed at the Bartlett School of Sustainable Construction. 

The programme ends with a dissertation. It is an academically rigorous piece of research and students can choose any topic they want as long as it is relevant to Real Estate and can be supervised by a member of the Bartlett School of Sustainable Construction staff.

Year 1 Year 2

Compulsory modules








Compulsory modules



Please note that the list of modules given here is indicative. This information is published a long time in advance of enrolment and module content and availability are subject to change. Modules that are in use for the current academic year are linked for further information. Where no link is present, further information is not yet available.

Students undertake modules to the value of 180 credits. Upon successful completion of 180 credits, you will be awarded an MSc in Real Estate Economics and Investment Analysis.

Accessibility

Details of the accessibility of UCL buildings can be obtained from AccessAble accessable.co.uk. Further information can also be obtained from the UCL Student Support & Wellbeing team.

Visit us

All open days and events

Online - Open day

Graduate Open Events: MSc Real Estate Economics and Investment Analysis

Join us on our Open Day to find out why this course is designed to equip students with an understanding of the economics of the real estate market and give them skills to use data to make informed investment decisions. There will be an opportunity to speak with the Programme Leader.

Watch on demand event

Fees and funding

Fees for this course

UK students International students
Fee description Full-time Part-time
Tuition fees (2023/24) £21,200 £10,600
Tuition fees (2023/24) £32,100 £16,050

The tuition fees shown are for the year indicated above. Fees for subsequent years may increase or otherwise vary. Where the programme is offered on a flexible/modular basis, fees are charged pro-rata to the appropriate full-time Master's fee taken in an academic session. Further information on fee status, fee increases and the fee schedule can be viewed on the UCL Students website: ucl.ac.uk/students/fees.

Additional costs

If you are concerned by potential additional costs for books, equipment, etc. on this programme, please get in touch with us by emailing your administrator, suzanne.hogan@ucl.ac.uk.

For more information on additional costs for prospective students please go to our estimated cost of essential expenditure at Accommodation and living costs.

Funding your studies

UCL offers a range of financial awards aimed at assisting both prospective and current students with their studies.

Any additional funding available from The Bartlett School of Sustainable Construction and the Built Environment Faculty Office are advertised on the respective websites.

For a comprehensive list of the funding opportunities available at UCL, including funding relevant to your nationality, please visit the Scholarships and Funding website.

See all the ways you can fund your studies

Next steps

There is an application processing fee for this programme of £90 for online applications and £115 for paper applications. Further information can be found at Application fees.

When we assess your application we would like to learn:

  • why you want to study Real Estate Economics and Investment Analysis at graduate level
  • why you want to study Real Estate Economics and Investment Analysis at UCL
  • what particularly attracts you to this programme
  • how your academic and professional background meets the demands of this programme
  • where you would like to go professionally with your degree

Together with essential academic requirements, the personal statement is your opportunity to illustrate whether your reasons for applying to this programme match what the programme will deliver.

Please upload a personal statement. Your statement should be clearly written, and be no more than 500 words. 

  • Tell us why you want to study the MSc Real Estate Economics and Investment Analysis.
  • What do you consider to be one of your key strengths, relevant to the programme?
  • How do you hope your studies will help your future individual and career development?
Applications are considered on a rolling basis until all places are filled, so early applications are strongly encouraged.

Please note that you may submit applications for a maximum of two graduate programmes (or one application for the Law LLM) in any application cycle.

Got questions? Get in touch

Bartlett School of Sustainable Construction
Bartlett School of Sustainable Construction

bartlett.pgtbssc-admissions@ucl.ac.uk

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