News
Alum Roberta Sydney '88 Profiled in Boston Herald Feature
April 1, 2008
"If you think Roberta Sydney was just handed real estate development and management company Sydney Associates by her dad, you’d be wrong. But if you think she carries on his tradition of being honest, decisive and trustworthy, you’d be right." Download article (pdf, 22K) or visit bostonherald.com.
WSJ Focuses on Wheaton, Who Suggests Fears of Housing Slump May Be Seriously Overdone
March 24, 2008
The Wall Street Journal spotlighted analysis by MIT/CRE Professor Bill Wheaton, who offered a brighter view of market conditons than the gloomy one now in vogue. The Journal noted Wheaton's sucessful record of independent thinking, reminding readers that "Mr. Wheaton is no perma-bull. Quite the reverse: he was warning about the coming real estate crash back when the usual hallejulah chorus were singing and clapping their hands." Download article (pdf, 23K) or visit WSJ online.
Reducing the CO2 Cost of Concrete: Christian Science Monitor Cites MIT Researcher
March 12, 2008
"Roughly 5 to 10 percent of global CO2 emissions are related to the manufacture and transportation of cement, a major ingredient of concrete.... "'There is not one single cement company on this planet that is not thinking about how to [reduce emissions]," says Franz-Josef Ulm, a professor of civil engineering who researches concrete at the Massachusetts Instituteof Technology in Cambridge, Massachusetts." Download story (pdf, 30K) or read online.
Chronicle of Higher Education Blog Compares Two Iconic MIT Buildings: "Stunning" Difference
March 11, 2008
In Mary Jo Olenick's "A Tale of Two Buildings," the guest blogger for the Chronicle of Higher Education compares two of MIT's important new structures — the Brain and Cognitive Sciences Building, designed by Charles Correa Associates, and Frank Gehry’s Stata Center, located directly across the street. "The contrast in occupancy levels and human energy was stunning," Olenick said. Read full article.
ABC Radio Interviews Media Lab's Bill Mitchell on the Future of Architecture
March 8, 2008
The MIT Media Lab's Bill Mitchell has seen the future, and, well, you can't see it! "People think high-tech architecture of the 21st century is going to be some kind of Buck Rogers thing with all kinds of flashing lights and shiny tubes," Mitchell said, interviewed on Austrailia's ABC Radio. "But really good 21st century technology will disappear into your pocket and disappear into the woodwork . . . . The level of technological service will be very high but mostly you won't even see it," he said. Learn about Mitchell's vision for the integration of architecture and transportation. See also an MIT/CRE profile of his team's work on the revolutionary City Car.
Boston Herald Cites MIT/CRE Indexes as "Commercial Real Estate Prices Tank"
February 6, 2008
"Commercial real estate prices are tumbling across the country in a decline not seen since the devastating recesson of the early 1990s, a new MIT report finds. The value of commercial real estate owned by major U.S. pension funds fell 5 percent in the fourth quarter, according to a commercial market index produced by the MIT Center for Real Estate. The drop was nearly twice the 2.5 percent decline seen in the third quarter." Read full article.
CNBC References Center Indexes: " Commercial Property Woes Hit Pension Funds"
February 5, 2008
"The value of U.S. commercial real estate owned by big pension funds fell five percent in the fourth quarter of 2007, twice the drop of the third quarter, according to an index from the MIT Center for Real Estate. The transaction-based index (TBI) tracks the price at which big pension funds buy and sell commercial properties, which include shopping malls, apartment complexes and office buildings. The cumulative fall since last year’s midsummer peak is now more than 7 percent." Read full article.
Economist's View: Geltner Quoted on Further Decline of Commercial Property Prices
February 5, 2008
"The value of U.S. commercial real estate owned by big pension funds fell another 5 percent in the fourth quarter of 2007, according to an index produced by the MIT Center for Real Estate.... 'This is evidence that the commercial property market continued to fall, and at an accelerated rate, through the last quarter of 2007, no doubt due to the effects of the credit crunch,' said MIT Center for Real Estate Director David Geltner." Read full article.
Students' Visit to Middle East Generates Buzz in UAE
Posted January 29, 2008
MSRED students' recent trip to to the United Arab Emirates caught the eye of the local media! The Khaleej Times, one of the UAE's leading newspapers (with columnists that include Henry Kissinger), and zawya.com, a key online business news site, covered the 26 students' visit to Dubai, focusing on their meeting with with Rasis Developers LLC. Read a preview of the trip. View a travelogue in words & images!
Wheaton Quoted by Boston Herald on "Tepid" Demand for Office Space
January 23, 2008
"William Wheaton, an MIT economics professor, said job growth and demand for new office space in Boston, despite recent rent increases, have been relatively weak. A downshift in the economy will only intensify those trends. 'The bloom is off the rose,' Wheaton said. 'I would say demand is pretty tepid right now. If anything, that outlook is a little more bearish.'" Read full article.
National Media Cites MIT/CRE Indexes as Subprime Woes Hit Commercial Sector
November 2007
As reported by national media outlets, market indexes developed by the MIT Center for Real Estate are showing that the woes of the beleaguered subprime market have reached real estate's commercial sector. Read news articles published by the Wall Street Journal, Chicago Tribune, and more.
Business Week Quotes Geltner on the Current "Tech Stock Oasis"
August 27, 2007
Technology stocks have provided a "safe haven" from the market's subprime-driven credit woes. "A lot of money left the tech sector in the early part of this decade and went to real estate," said MIT/CRE's David Geltner. "Now maybe some of that money will leave real estate and make its way back to tech." According to Geltner, the shift is already happening. Full story (pdf, 29K).
National Real Estate Investor Quotes Geltner on Derivatives
August 2007
In its monthly Global Real Estate Monitor, the National Real Estate Investor magazine explores the potential for the real estate derivatives market, quoting MIT/CRE's David Geltner. "Given the size of the commercial real estate market," Geltner said, "there's every reason to believe that a derivatives market would be huge." Professor Geltner has written and talked extenstively about real estate derivatives in the U.S. market as a powerful new asset class.
Professor William Wheaton Quoted on CNN
August 23, 2007
In an article detailing how rising interest rates on jumbo home loans are hitting wealthier borrowers -- and potentially taking down the healthiest part of the sickly housing market -- CNN asked Bill Wheaton to weigh in. "If jumbo rates stay higher for a couple months, that could have an additional adverse affect on the higher-priced markets," he said. Full story: visit CNN website or view PDF (30K).
NCREIF Founder to Deliver 2007 MIT/CRE Commencement Address
Posted August 2007
Blake Eagle, founder and CEO of the National Council of Real Estate Investment Fiduciaries (NCREIF), will deliver the commencement address to the MIT Center for Real Estate's 2007 Graduating Class on Saturday, September 29th. Eagle was key to the development of the flagship NCREIF Property Index (NPI), the first large-scale industry benchmark of its kind.
Bill Wheaton Quoted in Wall Street Journal: 2/3 of New Homeowners Will Become Renters
August 6, 2007
"The U.S. housing boom over the past decade turned about five million renters into homeowners, says William Wheaton, a professor of economics and real estate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. But many of the loans that made that possible have proved unsustainable. Dr. Wheaton expects about two-thirds of those people to go back to renting. Eventually, he says, rents will rise, and more people will see owning as a better alternative, helping to revive the housing market, perhaps in 2009 or 2010." Download full article (pdf, 23K) or visit WSJ online.
MIT/CRE's 40B Research Becomes the Talk of Boston
June 21, 2007
With the release this week of its reseach into the 40B permitting process, the Center's Housing Affordability Initiative (HAI) has created a flurry of media interest. With an article appearing first in the Boston Sunday Globe, then in Banker and Tradesman, and finally in a daily edition of the Boston Globe, HAI has created a stir with its exhaustive research revealing surprising findings.
Center Releases Landmark Study on 40B & Litigation
June 18, 2007
MIT/CRE's Housing Affordability Initiative today released the findings of its exhaustive investigation into the Chapter 40B permitting process. Results are surprising, and include evidence that even though a majority of Chapter 40B zoning override cases in the Boston area are approved by town zoning boards in a manner acceptable to developers, many projects are not being built. Read press release. Read full report.
MSRED Course Takes Students on Fast Track to China
May-June 2007
In a whirlwind tour of one of the world's new economic superpowers, students at the MIT Center for Real Estate are currently visiting China for an unforgettable look at the country's booming real estate market. See travelogue!
Geltner Delivers Keynote at 1st-Ever U.S. Real Estate Derivatives Conference
April 26 , 2007
MIT/CRE Director David Geltner presented a keynote address at the first and (as of this writing) the only real estate derivatives conference held in the U.S. Organized by Terrapinn, and held April 24th—26th at Bridgewaters in Manhattan, the ground-breaking conference agenda focused on strategies for success in developing a new liquid real estate derivatives market. Read more.
Boston Globe Shares Pollakowski's Tips on Homebuying
April 14, 2007
The Boston Globe cites Henry Pollakowski, Director of the Housing Affordability Initiative at MIT/CRE, in an article giving tips to buyers looking for a deal during the current homebuying season. "Finding small houses is really part of the trick," Pollakowski said, explaining that homes on less-spacious lots can offer a wealth of bargains. "Suburban zoning tries to keep lot sizes large, to bring in above-average income people. But you can find little niches where there are small homes . . . nooks and crannies that you can poke into." Read more.
Reuters Notes MIT/CRE Indexes
April 4, 2007
The real estate indexes launched in December 2006 by the MIT Center for Real Estate and its industry partner Real Capital Analytics (RCA) are generating increasing interest among market watchers, who see a growing enthusiasm for real estate derivatives. Reuters notes that a "slew of new property derivatives are becoming available due to a growing access to real estate indexes," and includes the MIT-RCA indices among seven of the most significant. Read more.
MIT/CRE's Wheaton Interviewed by NPR
March 16, 2007
In his third appearance on National Public Radio this year, Professor Bill Wheaton discussed subprime lending in an interview with Robert Siegel on NPR's All Things Considered. Wheaton considered the development of the subprime mortgage market and offered his analysis of how recent events might affect the wider economy. "The cooling housing market could slow economic growth," he said, "but I don't think it'll be strong enough to put us into a recession." Hear NPR interview (RealPlayer, 4:54).
Bloomberg Cites MIT/CRE Professor Wheaton
February 28, 2007
Bloomberg columnist Caroline Baum cites William Wheaton, MIT Center for Real Estate Director of Research, to suggest that the ongoing woes of the subprime market are creeping into other sectors of the real estate industry. Quoting Professor Wheaton as saying that the "explosive growth of the subprime market" was the result of the "unprecedented" shift from renting to home ownership, Baum blames too much supply on increased risk. Download column (pdf, 26K) or visit Bloomberg website.
Financial Times Notes MIT/CRE Indices
February 20, 2007
In a report on the growing market for property derivatives, the Financial Times newspaper drew attention to the indices launched in December 2006 by MIT/CRE and its industry partner Real Capital Analytics. Detailing the increased interest in indices to support the derivatives market, the Times noted the 29 new indices set up by "MIT's renowned Center for Real Estate" for tracking commercial property prices in the US. Learn more about the MIT/RCA indices by reading the launch press release or visiting the MIT/CRE research pages.
Boston Globe Editorial References MIT/CRE Study
February 11, 2007
"According to a study released last year by the Massachusetts Housing Partnership and the MIT Center for Real Estate, the average lot size for new homes built in Greater Boston from 1998 to 2002 was just under an acre – three times the national average.... Massachusetts cannot sustain itself unless young, educated workers can afford to put down roots and raise families here.... Massachusetts needs more small houses on tidy little lots." Download editorial (pdf, 20K) or visit Boston Globe editorial page.
Warburg Pincus Buys 25% of ZK Real Estate
January 29, 2007
U.S. private equity firm Warburg Pincus of New York has agreed to buy a 25% stake in Shanghai ZK Real Estate Development to increase Warburg's emerging market exposure.
ZK Real Estate was founded in March 2006 by CEO and MIT/CRE graduate Qian Wang ('03), who established the company as a joint venture with MIT/CRE partner Zhongkai Group. Developing over 6 million square feet of floor space in China's second-tier cities, ZK Real Estate is recruiting talented professionals to work in China's booming real estate market. Interested MIT/CRE affiliates are invited to apply. Visit ZK Real Estate's website.
MIT/CRE Grad Named VP of Anglo Irish Bank
January 26, 2007
Anglo Irish Bank has named Richard Muraida as Senior Vice President of Commercial Real Estate Lending for the bank’s Boston representative office. Mr. Muraida, a graduate of MIT/CRE's Minority Developers Executive Program, will be responsible for originating loans in the Boston market.
Center Director Named Most Influential Researcher
Posted January 18, 2007
David Geltner, Director of the MIT Center for Real Estate, was named the most influential researcher in the real estate field from 2000-2004 by the journal Real Estate Economics (REE). Widely regarded as the leading real estate journal, REE also named MIT the second most influential real estate research institution.
NYC Stays Hot as Hub Cools: Big Apple Leads in Housing & Jobs
Boston Herald, December 24, 2006
"The once-hot condo market has cooled in Boston.... All of which is in stark contrast to the Hub’s archrival, New York, which is experiencing a boom of historic proportions." According to the MIT Center for Real Estate's William Wheaton, New York's condo boom is due in part to an influx of new residents — over three quarters of a million. View article (pdf, 110K).
Boston Mayor Eyes Push for Job Growth
Boston Herald, December 22, 2006
Massachusetts has lost 143,800 jobs since 2001. "We are just not able to generate center-city-type jobs," said William Wheaton, an economist and faculty member of the MIT Center for Real Estate. "It's been a very difficult five years, that's all I would say." View article (pdf, 58K).
Fannie Mae Loan Limits Unchanged in 2007
Houston Chronicle, November 28, 2006
"Fannie Mae and McLean, Va.-based Freddie Mac were created by Congress to buy home loans from banks and other lenders and sell them bundled in securities for sale on Wall Street. The static limits reflect the rule of increasing prices yielding higher loan ceilings, but 'prices are clearly falling,' said William Wheaton, a professor of economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 'They bump the limits every year to reflect average, middle-income housing, and as those prices have gone up, the limits have gone up,' said Wheaton, who is also research director at MIT's Center for Real Estate. 'By having limits, they force jumbo loans, or loans to people with bad credit, into other pools.'"
Real Estate: Babes in Bear Land
CNNMoney.com, November 7, 2006
"The roughly 50 percent increase in median home prices since 2000 makes the job much more attractive compared to other professions which have seen modest increases in compensation, said William Wheaton, director of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Center for Real Estate. 'If you're able to make $100,000 selling a house rather than $50,000 everyone and their cousin wants to be a broker,' he said. 'All that demand to be brokers is caused by the fact that the commission structure is fixed. Commissions should be plummeting from 6 to 4 to 2 percent because it's not.'
Smaller Homes Are Nonstarters
Boston Globe, November 5, 2006
"A study earlier this year by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Center for Real Estate concluded that new homes built in Greater Boston between 1998 and 2002 used an average of 1.3 acres per lot -- much more than homes elsewhere in the country. The ballooning house lots here, said Henry Pollakowski, director of the Center's Housing Affordability Initiative, are a result of more restrictive zoning rules adopted by communities since the 1980s. "It's anti growth. It's a way of keeping other people out" of those towns, he said."
MIT Ranked Top School for Urban Planners
Planetizen, November 1, 2006
The first national study in many years has (again) confirmed that MIT is home to the top graduate program in Urban Planning. In addition, out of 94 North American departments assessed, DUSP was ranked #1 for International Development, #1 for Housing, Social, and Community Development, #1 for Economic Development, #1 for Technology, #2 for Real Estate, and #3 for Environmental Planning, for Land Use Planning, and for Urban Design. In other words, not only the Department as a whole, but every program group within it, has been ranked in the top three nationally.
Housing Panelists Explore Unit Supply, Quality, and Cost
November 1, 2006
Students and off-campus visitors who gathered for the third session of the Affordable Housing Forum heard that, despite the much-ballyhooed "slump" of the real estate market, the total value of housing stock in the United States is around $20 trillion.
New Homes Seek a Match
Boston Globe, September 24, 2006
"The sagging market for new construction arose from a host of interrelated economic factors, not the least of which is Boston's slow growth in new jobs, said Tony Ciochetti, chairman of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Center for Real Estate and a former real estate developer. 'If you have more people leaving Boston than moving in, then that little guy out building subdivisions may be in trouble,' Ciochetti said. 'The question is are they going to stop building? That's really a function of the underlying economic picture of the Boston area, and each developer's perception of it.'"
Matthew Kelly Speaks at MIT/CRE's 2006 Commencement
September 30, 2006
Matthew Kelly, Vice President of Real Estate Strategy and Development for Walt Disney Imagineering, addressed the MIT Center for Real Estate's graduating class. Kelly shared his experience guiding the development of Celebration, an award-winning large-scale master-planned community near Orlando.
MIT Professors & Students Help Rebuild New Orleans
September 29, 2006
Professor Phillip Thompson, MIT Associate Professor of Urban Politics, discussed the MIT community's efforts to help rebuild New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. Highlighting the disaster's profound effects on real estate, Professor Thompson spoke as a part of MIT/CRE's commencement weekend.
De Neufville Advocates Flexibility in Development
September 29, 2006
Professor Richard de Neufville, MIT Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Engineering Systems, shared his research on the value of incorporating flexibility into real estate development. Speaking at the MIT Center for Real Estate's graduation weekend, he showed how a simple spreadsheet model of future uncertainty can dramatically increase development value.
MIT/CRE Welcomes the Class of 2007
June 2006
The MIT Center for Real Estate is pleased to welcome its incoming Class of 2007 — a cohort of 37 students (drawn from a pool of 90 applicants) admitted to MIT/CRE's flagship program, the Master of Science in Real Estate Development (MSRED).
Professional Development Courses Launched
June 2006
New for the summer of 2006, the MIT Center for Real Estate introduced three professional development courses — Advanced Real Estate Development, Brownfields Redevelopment, and Entrepreneurship in the Real Estate Industry — to complement the suite of courses we offer to industry.
MIT Ranks Affordable Housing around Boston
May 2006
What do Dracut, Waltham, and Norwood have in common? They are among the most affordable towns in the Boston area, according to MIT research announced at the 2nd Annual Housing Affordability Conference.
New MIT Index Measures Huge Returns in Commercial Real Estate
February 22, 2006
Annual investment returns for U.S. holdings in commercial real estate — a sector favored by big pension funds — hit an unprecedented high of 34 percent in 2005. These results were announced with the launch of MIT/CRE's Transactions-Based Index (TBI).
Symposium Addresses Risk and Return in Real Estate Development Ventures
February 16, 2006
A symposium co-produced by the Alumni Association of MIT’s Center for Real Estate (AACRE) and New England Women in Real Estate (NEWIRE) addressed a critical question — if developing real estate is far riskier than purchasing stable real estate, how much greater should be the returns for development?
Boston Area Housing Approaches an Acre Per Home
January 31, 2006
New single-family home construction in the greater Boston area is consuming about twice as much land as existing single-family housing, and half of the region’s 30,387 recent new single-family homes were built on lots of nearly an acre or larger, according to a new study by the Massachusetts Housing Partnership (MHP) and the MIT Center for Real Estate (MIT/CRE).
Canadian Real Estate Leaders Offer Insight into Dynamics of Leadership
December 2, 2005
Richard Dansereau, President and Chief Operating Officer of CDP Capital Real Estate Advisory, and Andre Collin, First Vice President of Real Estate Investments of Canada’s Public Sector Pension Investment Board (PSP), spoke at the MIT Center for Real Estate's Learning from Leaders program, the first in a planned series of visits by the Center’s sustaining partners.
CRE Students Benefit from Unique Opportunity to Learn from Leaders
December 2, 2005
Michael Falcone, Chief Executive Officer of MuniMae (Municipal Mortgage & Equity, LLC) kicks off the MIT Center for Real Estate's "Learning from Leaders" program, a series of talks by senior executives who lead the Center's sustaining partner companies. Download article. (pdf, 84K)
MIT/CRE Student’s “House in a Box” Wins 1K Entrepreneurship Award
December 2005
Center for Real Estate graduate student Luis Canizo won an award in MIT's 50K Entrepreneurship Competition for his invention of durable housing designed for disaster areas, which can be built quickly using local materials and unskilled labor.
Innovative Class Immerses MIT/CRE Students in the World of Foreign Development
December 2005
A class of 15 graduate students from MIT’s Center for Real Estate (MIT/CRE) received a firsthand view of European real estate finance and development when they visited England and France in January of 2006. The group is the second led abroad by Professor Tony Ciochetti, chairman of MIT/CRE, and it represents the Center's growing focus on the globalization of real estate.
