Purpose The purpose of this paper is to validate and uncover the key determinants revolving around the Australian residential market downturn towards the 2020s. Design/methodology/approach Applying well-established time series econometric methods over a decade of data set provided by Australian Bureau of Statistics, Reserve Bank of Australia and Real Capital Analytics, the significant and emerging drivers impacting the Australian residential property market performance are explored. Findings Besides changes in the significant levels of some key traditional market drivers, housing market capital liquidity and cross-border investment fund were found to significantly impact the Australian residential property market between 2017 and 2019. The presence of some major positive economic conditions such as low interest rate, sustainable employment and population growth was perceived inadequate to uplift the Australian residential property market. The Australian housing market has performed negatively during this period mainly due to diminishing capital liquidity, excess housing supplies and retreating foreign investors. Practical implications A better understanding of the leading and emerging determinants of the residential property market will assist the policy makers to make sound decisions and effective policy changes based on the latest development in the Australian housing market. The results also provide a meaningful path for future property investments and investigations that explore country-specific effects through a comparative analysis. Originality/value The housing market determinants examined in this study revolve around the wider economic conditions in Australia that are not new. However, the coalesce analysis on the statistical results and the current housing market trends revealed some distinguishing characteristics and developments towards the 2020s Australian residential property market downturn.

Purpose The land sector in Ghana, particularly skin lands acquisition and title registration are fraught with several issues including unreliable record-keeping systems and land encroachments. The paper explores the potential of blockchain application in skin lands acquisition and title registration in Ghana with the aim of developing a blockchain-enabled framework for land acquisition. The purpose of this paper is to use the framework as a tool towards solving some of the loopholes in the process that leads to numerous issues bedeviling the current system. Design/methodology/approach The paper adopts a systematic literature review approach fused with informal discussions with key informants and leverages on the researchers’ own experiences to conceptualize blockchain application in skin lands acquisition in Ghana. Findings Problems bedeviling skin lands acquisition and title registration emanated from the issuance of allocation notes, payment of kola money and use of a physical ledger to document land transactions. As a result, the developed framework was designed to respond to these issues and deal with the problems. As the proposed blockchain framework would be a public register, it was argued that information on all transactions on a specific parcel of land could be available to the public in real-time. This enhances transparency and possibly resolves the issue of encroachments and indeterminate land boundaries because stakeholders can determine rightful owners of land parcels before initiating transactions. Practical implications Practically, blockchain technology has the potential to deal with the numerous issues affecting the smooth operation of skin lands acquisition and title registration in Ghana. Once the enumerated issues are resolved, there will be certainty of title to and ownership of land and property to drive investments because lenders could more easily ascertain owners of land parcels that could be used as collateral for securing loans. Similarly, property developers and land purchasers could easily identify rightful owners for land transactions. The government would be able to identify owners for land and property taxation. Originality/value This paper contributes to the literature on blockchain and application to land acquisition and title registration with a focus on a specific customary land ownership system.

<p>The purpose of the study is to examine the challenges facing the Ghanaian textile industry with emphasis on the Adinkra textile cloth printing sub sector in Ghana, as well as opportunities for improving the industry. The sub sector is distinct and has different dynamics from other sub sectors of the broader textile industry. The study informs policy makers and private sector on the factors resulting in the decline of the Adinkra textile sub sector and the need to sustain the sub sector of the textiles industry due to its heritage importance and contribution to the economy. It also examines potential business opportunities for local and international firms to invest in the textile sub market for expansion and profitability. An empirical research design with mixed-methods approach was used in this study. A qualitative approach (semi-structured interviews) was used to collect the data, coded and analysed using standard NVivo software which generated quantitative outcomes for descriptive statistical analysis. Qualitative approach was also used to interpret the findings of the study. The results indicated that, factors such as lack of access to capital, outmoded forms of technology, issues with supply chain and nature of the dyes for printing the textile cloths are primarily responsible for the declining state of the sub sector. The implications of the challenges and the declining state of the sub sector are discussed and solutions proffered to solve the challenges.</p>

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