COURSE NUMBER: EWMBA 280-1

COURSE TITLE: Real Estate & Urban Land Economics

UNITS OF CREDIT: 3 Units

INSTRUCTOR: ROBERT H. EDELSTEIN

E-MAIL ADDRESS: edelstei@haas.berkeley.edu

MEETING DAY(S)/TIME: Wednesday, 9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.

CLASS WEB PAGE LOCATION (HTTP URL): TBD - we will have a web page, with protected access.

PREREQUISITE(S): EWMBA Core Curriculum

CLASS FORMAT: Lectures, readings, class participation, selected outside speakers, cases & site visit

REQUIRED READINGS:
Course Reader, Textbook, Cases

BASIS FOR FINAL GRADE:
Final Exam and Mid-Term Exam (70% of Course Grade) · Group project involving team write-up and analysis (30% of Course Grade) · Several problem sets (no grade input) · Active class participation (Bonus value for grading purposes)

ABSTRACT OF COURSE'S CONTENT AND OBJECTIVES:
This course will utilize the principles of economic analysis to provide an introduction to real estate. The course will begin with an analysis of the financial and economic theory of residential and nonresidential real estate markets. Other topics will include: office building, apartment, retail, industrial, and hotel, and single family housing development and investment. Topics to be covered include analysis of the current recession and recovery and its impact on real estate markets, the viability of pure real estate plays, the length of the current San Francisco real estate depression, an analysis of mortgage creating institutions, REITS, alternative mortgage instruments, secondary market agencies and econometric models of the office and housing market.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH:
Robert Edelstein joined the University of California at Berkeley in 1985 and is active in the fields of real estate economics, finance, and property taxation; energy and environmental economics; public finance; and urban financial problems. He is a prodigious researcher and writer with work that addresses the major issues facing the real estate industry today. He has been published widely in prestigious economics and business journals on such topics as residential financial analysis and residential real estate markets, including international real estate and financial markets. He has testified before the United States Congress on many issues including the viability of variable rate mortgages for savings and loan associations, the fiscal soundness of the V.A. Revolving Loan program, the determinants of the loan size limits for the FHA Single-Family Loan Program, the restructuring of the FHA Multi-Family Loan Program, the imposition of capital requirements on FNMA and FHLMC, and the impact of the Rodash decision upon the housing finance system. He brings a set of refreshing viewpoints, as well as an indomitable energy to the real estate and financial field, and is widely sought after for speaking engagements and as a consultant by both government agencies and private sector clients. He has been President of the American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association. He has served on the Board of Directors of the American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association and on the editorial boards of the Journal of Housing, Journal of Property Research, Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, and Real Estate Economics. He also has been a member of several prestigious Corporate Boards. Dr. Edelstein received an A.B., A.M., and Ph.D. in Economics from Harvard University.