ABSTRACT
Analysis of the transactions process has traditionally focused on pricing strategies (Levin ampentity Pryce, 2007; Smith et al., 2006), time-on-the-market (Haurin, 1988; Pryce ampentity Gibb, 2006), the bidding/bargaining process (Levin ampentity Pryce, 2007; Merlo ampentity Ortalo-Magné, 2004) and broker behaviour in response to financial incentives (Munneke ampentity Yavas, 2001). Much of this literature assumes that the data disseminated by agents are informative or neutral, rather than manipulative or emotive. Realtors, in economic models at least, are typically assumed to be dispassionate profit maximisers—market intermediaries lubricating the dynamics of the market by mitigating information imperfections. It is only very recently that the textual content of property advertisements has itself been considered worthy of research (Levitt ampentity Syverson, 2005) and, even then, it is assumed to have a relatively minor role.
