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THE EFFECTS OF MULTICULTURAL DIVERSITY IN REAL ESTATEBROKERAGE by Bond, Seiler and Seiler, May, 2002.

This study examines changing diversity of home buyers and its impact and related response from the real estate brokerage industry. A survey of real estate brokerage firms clearly suggests that the home buying population is becoming more diverse over time. This is more likely to be the case for larger firms with more offices in multi-county locations. These firms are also more likely to have attempted to tailor their services to more diversified groups. A survey of homebuyers indicated around 40% of these considered themselves to be minorities. They were, on average, younger, earned less income and had owned fewer homes. They were also more likely to believe their ethnic background was a hindrance in the home buying process. However, additional variables, particularly lower income, may also have contributed to the perception that there were stumbling blocks on the road to home ownership.

The Impact of E-Commerce on the Real Estate Industry: Baen and Guttery Revisited by Waleed A. Muhanna† and James R. Wolf, December, 2001.

The widely reported prediction is that the emergence of the web as an open medium for commerce threatens the role of the real estate agent as a market intermediary. In their 1997 paper, for example, Baen and Guttery predicted that the increased use of the Internet and information technology would lead to a downsizing of the entire industry. However, recent BLS data show that the real estate industry, like most of the US economy, experienced steady growth during the last few years. In this article, we revisit the issue of disintermediation in the context of the real estate industry, and discuss - from a theoretical and conceptual perspective - several reasons why the predicted downsizing did not occur. Our assessment suggests that the Internet, though clearly a very powerful tool with strategic implications, may not be as disruptive a technology as originally predicted.

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