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Mason Virant

Mason Virant works in the Washington Center for Real Estate Research

WCRER releases report and white paper – March 2024

The Washington Center for Real Estate Research (WCRER) has released a white paper entitled “Increasing Washington State’s Residential Development Capacity”, co-authored by WCRER Director Steven Bourassa (also the H. Jon and Judith M. Runstad Endowed Professor and Chair of the Runstad Department of Real Estate) and WCRER Associate Director Mason Virant. WCRER also recently released a report which focuses on the impacts of HB 1923 and HB 2343, legislation enacted in 2019 and 2020 which provide grants to help develop…

UW researchers issue state-level policy recommendations for transit-oriented development

CBE Researchers developed a report “Finding Common Ground: Best Practices for Policies Supporting Transit-Oriented Development,” with the Mobility Innovation Center and led by the Washington Center for Real Estate Research.  Project Team: Mason Virant, Associate Director, Washington Center for Real Estate Research Christian Phillips, Urban Design and Planning PhD Program Steven C. Bourassa, PhD Director, Washington Center for Real Estate Research Arthur Acolin, Associate Professor, Runstad Department of Real Estate Visit the project page here.

Steven Bourassa quoted in Washington State Standard article on Rent Prices Stabilizing

Steven Bourassa is an H. Jon and Judith M. Runstad Endowed Professor and Chair in the Runstad Department of Real Estate, and is Director of the Washington Center for Real Estate Research. Professor Bourassa was quoted in a Washington State Standard story entitled “Rents in Washington show signs of stabilizing,” as an expert in the field. Read the article here. 

Bayesian Estimation of the Hierarchical SLX Model with an Application to Housing Markets

Hall, Joshua C.; Lacombe, Donald J.; Neto, Amir; Young, James. (2022). Bayesian Estimation of the Hierarchical SLX Model with an Application to Housing Markets. Journal Of Economics & Finance, 46(2), 360 – 373.

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Abstract

Hierarchical or multilevel models have long been used in hedonic models to delineate housing submarket boundaries in order to improve model accuracy. School districts are one important delineator of housing submarkets in an MSA. Spatial hedonic models have been extensively employed to deal with unobserved spatial heterogeneity and spatial spillovers. In this paper, we develop the spatially lagged X (or SLX) hierarchical model to integrate these two approaches to better understanding local housing markets. We apply the SLX hierarchical model to housing and school district test score data from Cincinnati Ohio. Our results highlight the importance of accounting for spatial spillovers and the fact that houses are embedded in school districts which vary in quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]; Copyright of Journal of Economics & Finance is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Keywords

Housing Market; Multilevel Models; Test Scoring; Cincinnati (ohio); Ohio; Bayesian Methods; Slx Model; Spatial Econometrics; Spatial Hierarchical Models

Washington Center for Real Estate Research

Established in 1989 through two legislative programs, the WCRER compiles real estate sale transaction data, rental market statistics, and development metrics throughout the State of Washington. From this, the WCRER also develops affordable housing metrics for the state with data published in quarterly Washington State Housing Market Reports, a twice yearly Washington State Apartment Market Report, and the Washington Housing Market Data Toolkit. The WCRER also provides bespoke data driven research, educational outreach programs, and policy guidance to professional organizations consistent with its public service mandate.

The Washington Center for Real Estate Research (WCRER) was initially established by the Board of Regents at Washington State University (WSU) to provide a bridge between academic study and research on real estate topics and the professional real estate industries. It served that mission at WSU until merging with the Runstad Center at the beginning of 2012. WCRER works with faculty to ensure their rigorous research is accessible and easily usable by industry participants, the media and the general public, regardless of their statistical sophistication. 

WCRER aims to provide credible research, value-added information, education services and project-oriented research to real estate licensees, real estate consumers, real estate service providers, institutional customers, public agencies, and communities in Washington state and the Pacific Northwest region.

The Washington Center for Real Estate Research is a key provider of real estate research and data across the State of Washington. The Center is primarily funded by the State, hence its central role in the provision of quality and robust data and market reports. Among its core activities are the Quarterly Washington State Housing Market Report and the semi-annual Apartment Market Survey for the State Department of Licensing. 

The Center is active across a range of other research projects and works closely with stakeholders both across the University of Washington with the public and private sectors.

Urban@UW helps BE labs collaborate

The Urban@UW initiative brings together labs that study urban issues from across the University of Washington. Urban@UW works with scholars, policymakers, and community stakeholders in order to strengthen the connection between research and solutions to urban issues through cross-disciplinary and cross-sector collaborative research. Key functions of Urban@UW include amplifying public awareness of ongoing projects, connecting researchers with outside constituencies, providing staff and administrative support services, and providing pilot funding and fundraising assistance. Multiple BE labs are involved, including the Northwest…