About the Journal

The Journal of African Real Estate  Research (JARER) is the official academic journal of the African Real Estate Society (AfRES) and is accredited by the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ). JARER (ISSN: 2304-8395) is an open-access journal hosted by the Urban Real Estate Research Unit at the University of Cape Town. JARER is officially published by the University of Cape Town Libraries.

History of the Journal

The journal was established as an initiative of the African Real Estate Society and the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) in 2008 (Vol1; Issue 1 was published in Jan 2008). In 2012 the JARER  was transferred to the Department of Construction Economics and Management at Wits University. Volumes 2 Issue 1 was published through Wits University with Prof Sam Azasu being the editor-in-chief. A further issue was released in 2014  (Prof Sam Azasu - Editor in Chief) (http://www.afrer.org/journal-of-african-real-estate-research ).  In 2017 the decision was taken by the African Real Estate Society to transfer the JARER  to the University of Cape Town.  The move to UCT resulted in the journal being placed on an electronic journal platform and the following appointments were made - a journal manager (Mr Luke Boyle), Editor in Chief (Prof Felician Komu) and Chief and Associate Editor (A/ Prof François Viruly). The journal has since 2017 been published regularly (twice a year). Vol 6 Issue 1 was a special Issue Entitled “ Women in African Real Estate & Urban Development – edited by Karen Gibler and Geci-Karuri-Sebina. 

In 2018 the editorial Advisory board was reconstituted. In 2019 a new editorial team was appointed comprising Prof Abel Olaleye (Editor in Chief ), and Associate Editor (A/ Prof Aly Karam). In 2021 Ms Lesedi Kgaka took over from Mr Luke Boyle as Managing Editor. The current Managing Editor is Ms Dayni Sanderson, who was appointed in December 2023. The JARER has since 2018 been supported by the International Real Estate Business School in Regensburg (Germany).

The Journal of African Real Estate Research does not charge any Article Processing Charge (APC) or any article submission charge.

Keywords: research, real estate, property, Africa, academia, journal, housing, reits, development, land, valuation, urban, markets, investments, education, sustainability

Journal Objectives:
The journal aims to understand African real estate markets, including their structure and workings, and the nature and impacts of efforts to reform them. In this context, real estate markets include different built environment components, including planning, funding and development, construction, management, ownership, and occupation.

In addition, the journal highlights the role and importance of real estate markets in Africa in contributing to: 

  • Real Estate Investment Trusts;
  • Property and Economic Development;
  • Transformation in the Real Estate Sector;
  • Provision of Affordable Housing;
  • Real Estate Legislation and Policy Discourse;
  • PropTech or Real Estate Technology;
  • Equitable Land Management;
  • Innovation in Property Development;
  • Growth of Urban and National economies;
  • Maturity of Property Markets;
  • Market Studies;
  • Financial Sector Development; and
  • Sustainable Real Estate Development and Management.

The journal's aim is supported by providing a forum for debate and the dissemination of research on the key issues relating to the above issues via:

  • The publication of research papers based on the results of completed research projects or programmes;
  • Notes on ongoing or proposed research programmes;
  • Reviews of relevant books; and
  • Letters commenting on papers and contributions previously published or on other matters of relevance.

As well as contributing to the development of the real estate research community in Africa and enabling discourse and dialogue between researchers engaged in research into real estate issues in Africa, the journal will also be used as a means of ensuring that African governments and policy-makers are made aware of the latest thought leadership and research on these issues.

To this end, papers with a strong policy emphasis, either in analysing the impact of existing policies or putting forward proposals for appropriate policies, are strongly welcomed. Additionally, papers that address these issues in Africa - on a local, national and regional basis, or on a comparative international basis - are invited for submission to the journal.

All papers will be subjected to a double-blind (peer review) referring process. Referees will be drawn from an expert Editorial Board, selected for their knowledge of African real estate issues and their knowledge of current real estate research.

Open Access Policy

The Journal of African Real Estate Research is an Open Access Journal and provides immediate free access to its content on the principle that making research freely available to the public supports a greater global exchange of knowledge. Authors do not pay article processing charges (APCs) or publication fees to publish in JARER, and readers do not pay subscriptions to read JARER publications. JARER is a diamond open access publication. Every article published by the journal is open access, which means that:

- The article is universally and freely accessible via the Internet, in an easily readable format. All publications are deposited immediately upon publication, without embargo. Authors are free to deposit their published research papers on institutional repositories, academic social media and personal or departmental websites.

Author(s) retain copyright and they irrevocably grant(s) to any third party, in advance and in perpetuity, the right to use, reproduce or disseminate the article/book in its entirety or in part, in any format or medium, provided that no substantive errors are introduced in the process, and there must be proper attribution of authorship and correct citation details are given, and that the bibliographic details are not changed. If the article is reproduced or disseminated in part, this must be clearly indicated and can be done without asking prior permission from the publisher or the author.

Archiving

JARER practices preservation and archiving of our content to ensure continued accessibility and relevance for our readership and stakeholders.

Language

JARER is an English language journal, and all articles are in English. This has been a challenge for many of our authors who are not native English speakers. Thus, we work closely with our authors to assist them in developing the language of their papers.

Geographical Diversity

This journal is committed to growing our author and editorial geographical diversity, to reflect our interests in real-estate issues across the entire African continent. We aspire to include work from underrepresented African countries and voices in the years to come. 

Publisher

The University of Cape Town Libraries is the publisher of JARER. JARER is published in South Africa.

Timeline

The average number of weeks between article submission and publication is 20 weeks.