Income capitalisation method and hedonic model: an integrated approach

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide an integrated approach that combines the two methods usually used in the real estate appraisals, namely, the income capitalisation method and the hedonic model. Design/methodology/approach – In order to pull out the link between the income capitalisation approach and the hedonic model, the standard hedonic price function is introduced into the basic model of income capitalisation instead of the house market value. It follows that, from the partial derivative, a direct relation between hedonic prices and discount rate can be obtained. Finally, by using the close relationship between income capitalisation and direct capitalisation, a mathematical relation between hedonic prices and capitalisation rate is also obtained. Findings – The developed method allows to estimate the capitalisation rate using only hedonic prices. Indeed, selling and hedonic prices incorporate all of the information required to correctly estimate the capitalisation rate. Furthermore, given the close relation among going-in and going-out capitalisation rates and discount rate, the proposed method could also be useful for determining both the going-out capitalisation rate and the discount rate. Practical implications – Obviously, it is always preferable to estimate the capitalisation rate by just using comparable transactional data. Nevertheless, the method developed in this paper is especially useful when: the rental income data are missing and/or not entirely reliable; the data on rental income and house price are related to different homes; the capitalisation rate, in fact, should compare the rent and value of identical homes. In these cases, therefore, the method can be a valuable alternative to direct estimation. Originality/value – The large and important literature on real estate economics and real estate appraisal neglects the relationship between hedonic prices and capitalisation rate, thus considering the hedonic model and the income capitalisation approach as two separate and alternative methods. This paper, instead, shows that integration is possible and relatively simple.