Thesis (M. Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 1993. / "Workshop report." Includes bibliographical references.

published_or_final_version / Urban Planning / Master / Master of Science in Urban Planning

The purpose of this thesis is to examine the problem of gazumping, to consider the various factors which give rise to it, to examine the adequacy of existing legal doctrine in redressing it, to explore statutory provisions designed to reduce gazumping and to propose reform of the law to address the problem. The term gazumping refers to a practice by which a vendor accepts a purchaser's offer to purchase land or property, and before exchanging contracts, withdraws from the existing agreement in order to accept a higher price from another purchaser. This thesis proceeds on the assumption that gazumping is an undesirable practice, particularly from the prospective purchaser' perspective. The practice of gazumping initially boomed in a volatile property market with constantly rising house prices and where demand exceeded supply. A purchaser who believes he or she has secured the purchase of his or her desired property may suffer emotional stress and significant costs which cannot be recovered when the vendor reneges on his or her agreement. The thesis notes that gazumping occurs at the pre-contractual stage in the sale of property because there is no legally binding relationship before the formal exchange of contracts. The thesis posits that the existing law in various Australian jurisdictions offers inadequate protection to prospective purchasers of property. The thesis examines the inadequacy of existing legal doctrines and remedies in addressing the problem of gazumping at the pre-contractual stage and arrives at the conclusion that existing legal doctrine is inadequate. The thesis notes legislative and other measures in response to gazumping in Australia and other common law jurisdictions and concludes that these too were inadequate in not going far enough to eliminate or reduce gazumping. The competing merits of these approaches are considered. The thesis establishes that the solution to gazumping lies in an early protection of the purchaser�s interest in land. This is because as soon as an agreement is enforceable the purchaser acquires an equitable interest and in the event of any breach of the agreement by the vendor, the purchaser, as a general rule, can obtain either damages or specific performance. The thesis raises seven key recommendations for law reform aimed to minimise the occurrence of gazumping and to provide the purchaser with tools against the practice of gazumping. It considers that the recommendations can minimise the undesirable practice of gazumping where the current law is inadequate and also achieve several other objectives.

Land and housing markets are separated, with the traders in the land market being developers and those in the housing market being end-users for self-occupation and investors for investment. The two markets, however, are closely related because demand for residential sites is derived from demand for housing. With this close relationship, any signals from the land market should be impounded to the housing market. Land auction, which is the most commonly adopted land disposal method in Hong Kong, is a significant event in the land market. The land auction events should contain market signals affecting trading decisions of homebuyers and sellers in the housing market in a similar way that corporate earnings announcements of a listed company affect the trading of its shares in the stock market. 　　This study investigates how land auctions affect trading volume in the secondary housing market in Hong Kong. Hypotheses are developed based on previous studies on the impacts of corporate earnings announcements on trading volume in stock markets with modifications to take into account the differences between housing and stock markets. The characteristics of housing market that are important in formulating the hypotheses are high transaction cost and market incompleteness (e.g. absence of short selling). In addition, lumpiness and indivisibility of housing, which make market participants risk-averse, also play important roles in the development of the hypotheses in this study. 　　The research results indicate that greater dispersion in prior beliefs before the land auctions is associated with lower trading volume in the housing spot market. Unexpected land auction outcomes, be they positive or negative, are also negatively related to trading volume in the housing market, with the negative outcomes exerting a strong downward pressure on trading volume. These findings are contradictory to the findings commonly found in most finance literature about trading volume around corporate earnings announcements which assumes negligible transaction cost but consistent with findings in Barron and Karpoff (2004). The deviation from previous studies of stock market can be explained by the risk-averse behaviour of market participants, high transaction cost and market incompleteness in the housing market. Although empirical data in Hong Kong are used, the implications are general and should be applicable to other housing markets with similar characteristics. This study also sheds light on how increase in transaction cost and restriction on short selling may affect trading volume around corporate earnings announcements in the stock market. / published_or_final_version / Real Estate and Construction / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

The Texas Constitution of 1876 set aside three million acres of Texas public land in exchange for construction of the monumental red granite Capitol that continues to house Texas state government today. The Capitol project and the land went to an Illinois syndicate led by men influential in business and politics. Austin's statehouse is a recognizable symbol of Texas around the world. So too, the massive Panhandle tract given in exchange -- what became the "fabulous" XIT Ranch -- has come to, for many, symbolize Texas and its role in the nineteenth century cattle boom. After finding sales prospects for the land, known as the Capitol Reservation, weak at the time, backed by British capital, the Illinois group, often called the Capitol Syndicate, turned their efforts to cattle ranching to satisfy investors until demand for the land increased. The operation included a satellite ranch in Montana to which two-year-old steers from Texas were sent for fattening, often "over the trail" on a route increasingly blocked by people and settlement. Rather than a study focused on ranching operations on the ground -- the roundups, the cattle drives, the cowboys -- this instead uncovers the business and political side of the Syndicate's ranching operation, headquartered in Chicago. The operation of the XIT Ranch looked more like other Gilded Age businesses employing armies of clerks, bookkeepers, and secretaries instead of how great western ranches have been portrayed for years in popular literature and media. The XIT Ranch existed from 1885 to 1912, yet from Texas to Montana the operation left a deep imprint on community culture and historical memory.