Market maturity and property market behaviour: A European comparison of mature and emergent markets

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Abstract
This paper explores the conventional notion of property market maturity, assesses its usefulness, and works towards a new paradigm of property market performance which centres on the explicit consideration of market maturity in addition to the usual economic determinants. A checklist of maturity characteristics is established and used as a framework for assessing the maturity of three case‐study office markets. London is confirmed as a mature market on the conventional criteria while Barcelona and Milan are identified as emerging markets. The case studies suggest that maturity needs to be articulated in more detail than is normally the case and that conventional forms of maturity may carry disadvantages as well as advantages. The paper concludes that the concept of maturity is too complex to provide a simple explanation of comparative property market activity, that maturity does not necessarily imply market efficiency, and that there is no single evolutionary path which will be followed by all property markets. It argues for a broader agenda for property market research which includes the characteristics of local real estate culture, the use and misuse of information, and the role of property professionals within a given market.

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