Unit Synopsis
The purpose of this unit will be to introduce students to a range of economic principles relating to real estate and property issues. The unit will be organised in three main sections. The first section will involve an analysis of why economic, social and environmental problems occur, the second reviews some assessment tools that are available, and the third will involve an overview of urban and regional economic issues, with particular focus on the economics of infrastructure planning.
Details
| Level | Undergraduate |
|---|---|
| Unit Level | 2 |
| Credit Points | 6 |
| Student Contribution Band | SCA Band 4 |
| Fraction of Full-Time Student Load | 0.125 |
| Pre-requisites or Co-requisites |
ECON11026 or FINC11002 Important note: Students enrolled in a subsequent unit who failed their pre-requisite unit, should drop the subsequent unit before the census date or within 10 working days of Fail grade notification. Students who do not drop the unit in this timeframe cannot later drop the unit without academic and financial liability. See details in the Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework). |
| Class Timetable | View Unit Timetable |
| Residential School | No Residential School |
Unit Availabilities from Term 1 - 2026
Term 1 - 2026 Profile
Attendance Requirements
All on-campus students are expected to attend scheduled classes - in some units, these classes are identified as a mandatory (pass/fail) component and attendance is compulsory. International students, on a student visa, must maintain a full time study load and meet both attendance and academic progress requirements in each study period (satisfactory attendance for International students is defined as maintaining at least an 80% attendance record).
Recommended Student Time Commitment
Each 6-credit Undergraduate unit at CQUniversity requires an overall time commitment of an average of 12.5 hours of study per week, making a total of 150 hours for the unit.
Assessment Tasks
| Assessment Task | Weighting |
|---|---|
| 1. Case Study | 40% |
| 2. Take Home Exam | 60% |
This is a graded unit: your overall grade will be calculated from the marks or grades for each assessment task, based on the relative weightings shown in the table above. You must obtain an overall mark for the unit of at least 50%, or an overall grade of ‘pass’ in order to pass the unit. If any ‘pass/fail’ tasks are shown in the table above they must also be completed successfully (‘pass’ grade). You must also meet any minimum mark requirements specified for a particular assessment task, as detailed in the ‘assessment task’ section (note that in some instances, the minimum mark for a task may be greater than 50%).
Past Exams
All University policies are available on the Policy web site, however you may wish to directly view the following policies below.
This list is not an exhaustive list of all University policies. The full list of policies are available on the Policy web site .
Term 1 - 2025 : The overall satisfaction for students in the last offering of this course was 100.00% (`Agree` and `Strongly Agree` responses), based on a 13.33% response rate.
Feedback, Recommendations and Responses
Every unit is reviewed for enhancement each year. At the most recent review, the following staff and student feedback items were identified and recommendations were made.
Source: SUTE 2024
'[UC] is the best lecturer I have had throughout my degree. Very easy to reach and helpful. The only updated unit content I would have liked is a more recent textbook, as it was published in 2004 (20 years ago) and referenced some studies done in the 1960-1970's - one example of this related to government rent controls which was on the exam and I don't think it is accurate to today's rental market/rental controls required. In a property economics degree, which is arguably a constantly evolving industry, it would be helpful to have a more recent textbook to refer to. '
Current market trends and media articles were integrated into the weekly classes and the assessments. The format and approach to these classes and assessments is to be retained. That said, the foundation textbook is dated and will be revised for the 2025 offering.
The text book is no longer a required text with the study guide and resources providing the primary reading. New texts will be reviewed and considered in future offerings.
Source: Scholarship
Embracing artificial intelligence (AI)
There is potential to refine the first assessment task and incorporate a simulated community forum, where students engage with prominent property economists (AI) in an aim to solve a wicked problem.
In Progress
Source: Unit outlines
Unit refinements
There are a series of refinements due to accommodate a new assessment task and update learning outcomes and mapping.
In Progress
On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:
- Identify how market mechanisms work to allocate resources, and how market demand and supply systems operate in real property markets
- Understand the development process, and how development proposals can be evaluated in economic terms
- Identify the economic arguments for planning controls and government intervention, and how these operate at different levels
- Develop an understanding of patterns of land use for different activities, including those in urban areas
- Identify how congestion and environmental problems are issues in urban planning and development, and how they may be addressed
- Conceptualise different models of regional development and how these interact with markets for land resources
| Assessment Tasks | Learning Outcomes | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | |
| 1 - Case Study | • | • | • | • | • | |
| 2 - Take Home Exam | • | • | • | • | • | |
| Graduate Attributes | Learning Outcomes | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | |
| 1 - Communication | • | • | • | |||
| 2 - Problem Solving | • | • | • | • | • | • |
| 3 - Critical Thinking | • | • | • | • | • | • |
| 4 - Information Literacy | • | • | • | • | • | • |
| 6 - Information Technology Competence | • | • | • | • | • | • |
| 10 - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultures | • | |||||
| Assessment Tasks | Graduate Attributes | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 10 | |