How to build a career in property development

What is property economics? 

Property economics is niche discipline that combines property management and valuation with urban planning, economics and finance, market analysis, and investment and development. The UTS Bachelor of Property Economics is one of Australia’s leading degrees in this area.   

The degree gave Anthony and Charbel the skills and confidence to establish Revelop while they were still studying at UTS. For the first few years, they did everything themselves, including the valuations, the planning and the construction management.

At the time, operating a two-person business was an issue of necessity, but in hindsight, the experience turned out to be incredibly valuable.

“What that did was it gave us the opportunity to learn the business inside out,” Anthony says.

“It was very much about adapting what we’d learnt at UTS and putting it into practical application.”

Studying property development at UTS 

The Bachelor of Property Economics might be the best-known course for students seeking a property development career, but it’s just one of numerous offerings in UTS’s highly acclaimed Property, Real Estate and Construction programs. 

For decades, these undergraduate and postgraduate property degrees have produced countless developers and other professionals working across the property spectrum: 

• Bachelor of Property Economics
• Bachelor of Construction Project Management
• Graduate Certificate in Construction Management
• Graduate Diploma in Construction Management
• Graduate Certificate in Property Development
• Graduate Diploma in Property Development
• Master of Property Development
• Master of Property Development and Planning
• Master of Property Development and Project Management
• Master of Property Development and Investment 

Alternative property career paths 

Graduates of these degrees arrive in the property sector ready to take on range of careers, including:  

• property development
• property valuations
• property sales and acquisitions
• property and asset management  
• property market analysis
• funds management
• corporate real estate advisory
• construction management
• project management.

As a Property Economics graduate, Anthony knew he had options. He initially considered working in valuations, management and real estate before settling on property development. Many of his UTS peers found their calling in other property disciplines.

“I chose an entrepreneurial life through property investment and development, but from a careers perspective, it was pretty much unlimited as long as it had something to do with property,” he says.

“I had friends who did property economics at UTS who went into property analytics and analysis. Some of them are property directors at some of the biggest fund managers in Australia.”

Property development career prospects

The good news, Anthony says, is that the property sector is always hiring. Whether the market is up, down, or somewhere in between, career opportunities keep growing.

“The property market is multi-tiered. There are always elements of it that are doing better than others,” says Anthony, who has recruited graduates from both the Bachelor of Property Economics and the Master of Property Development

“Depending on when you’re looking to enter the workforce, there’s always going to be an industry or a subset of the property industry that’s hiring and looking to expand.”