President's Letter | Winter 2025

Dear AREUEA Members,

It is my great honor to serve as your President in 2026. As we begin the year, I want to first thank you for your continued commitment to our association. AREUEA thrives because of your participation – whether as a researcher, reviewer, mentor, organizer, or volunteer – and I’m excited to build on the strong momentum established by my predecessors and by all of you.

We started with a highly successful AREUEA-ASSA Conference in Philadelphia earlier this month, where regular paper submissions reached a record 270. Our sessions were exceptionally well-attended, with many rooms packed and some standing-room only. The Presidential Luncheon was a highlight, featuring outgoing President Albert Saiz’s powerful address, “The Global Housing Affordability Crisis: Policy Strategies and Options,” which will appear in Real Estate Economics soon. A big thank you to Albert for his leadership and vision throughout the past year. The conference also featured a vibrant Doctoral Poster Session and a timely WREN panel on AI and research in real estate. My sincere thanks to our First Vice President, Lu Han, and her program committee for putting together such a strong conference.

At the 2025 AREUEA National Conference in Washington, D.C. last May, we received over 200 paper submissions and featured around 90 presentations spanning housing, urban economics, real estate finance, and climate risk. A standout moment was Edward Glaeser’s Quigley Medal Address, “Housing Supply in America: Scarcity in a Land of Plenty.” The Policy Forum brought together leading voices from policy, industry, and academia on the same theme “The State of U.S. Housing Supply”. We also continued our strong focus on supporting early-career scholars, with dedicated sessions for the Junior Scholar Program and Pipeline Scholars, as well as an amazing WREN event.  For the first time, we integrated Real Estate Economics special issue sessions in our May National Conference, organized by Ingrid Gould Ellen and Alvin Murphy on the topic of “Housing Market and Policy”. Thank you to everyone who made this event a success.

I’d also like to take a moment to recognize this year’s AREUEA awards we celebrated at our January 2026 Philadelphia Conference, and their work exemplifies excellence in the field. The John M. Quigley Medal was awarded to Robert Van Order (George Washington University) for his lifetime achievements in real estate and urban economics. The George Bloom Service Award was presented to Richard Green (USC) in recognition of his outstanding service to the association. The Edwin Mills Best Paper Award went to Arnab Dutta, Sahil Gandhi, and Richard Green for their Real Estate Economics article, “Is land-use deregulation enough to deliver housing? The case of institutional frictions in India.” The Hoyt Doctoral Dissertation Award was jointly awarded to Jordan Rosenthal-Kay (Ph.D., University of Chicago) and Joshua Coven (Ph.D., NYU Stern) for their exceptional research on urban costs and housing access. Sonia Gilbukh (CUNY Baruch College) was honored as Best Referee for Real Estate Economics, and the John Clapp Best Poster Award went to René Livas, and Honorable mentions were awarded to Heejin Yoon and Candy Martinez for their poster contributions.

Our 2025 International Conference in Barcelona, Spain, was a resounding success, drawing over 150 participants from 15+ countries, with more than 90 papers presented. Site visits highlighted Barcelona’s innovative approaches to urban planning and housing policy. Thanks to Jorge De la Roca, the International Committee, and our local hosts for organizing such a vibrant and impactful conference.

As we look ahead, I’m grateful for the leadership transitions that will shape the year. We begin 2026 by extending our heartfelt thanks to several board members whose terms have concluded: Jaclene Begley, Dragana Cvijanovic, Jorge De la Roca, Rachel Meltzer, and Stijn Van Nieuwerburgh. Their service has helped strengthen the foundation and reach of our association. We are equally pleased to welcome our new board members: Neil Bhutta, Anthony DeFusco, Kwan Ok Lee, and Luis Lopez, who bring fresh perspectives and expertise. We also congratulate Jacob Sagi on his appointment as Second Vice President, and Tess Scharlemann as our new Professional Conduct and Inclusion (PC&I) Officer. On the journal side, Eva Steiner was appointed as the new Managing Editor of Real Estate Economics, with Andra Ghent and Andrew Hanson as new co-editors.

Guided by our Board, and our members, AREUEA’s 2026 priorities reflect our shared commitment to excellence, inclusion, and global engagement:

  • Strengthen our three flagship conferences: ASSA-AREUEA, National(Mid Year D.C.), and the International Conference will remain central to our community. Each of these gatherings is a cornerstone of our intellectual community, and we aim to make them more inclusive, impactful, and globally engaged.

    • We are all looking forward to the AREUEA 2026 National Conference in Washington D.C. on May 27-29, 2026. Please do not forget to submit your papers - the deadline is February 1, the day after tomorrow!

    • Similarly, please prepare your papers for submission to the 2027 ASSA-AREUEA conference, also in D.C. in January 2027. The submission deadline will be April 1, 2026.

    • The portal to our 2026 International Conference in Medellín, Colombia (July 23–25, 2026) is now open, with the deadline of March 2, 2026 - we hope to see you there!

  • Support our journal: Real Estate Economics continues to strengthen its position as the leading journal in real estate and urban economics. Submissions rose significantly in 2025 to more than 440 manuscripts, while the acceptance rate declined to approximately 7%, reflecting both heightened visibility and increasingly rigorous editorial standards. Despite this growth, the journal has maintained efficient review times with an average of 64 days to a first decision (excluding desk rejections) and a robust publication schedule of six issues per year. The editorial team successfully navigated a leadership transition in 2025, with new editorial appointments approved by the AREUEA Board and a modernization of editorial governance through staggered appointments. Specifically, the journal welcomes Eva Steiner (PSU) as managing editor, as well as Andra Ghent (University of Utah) and Andrew Hanson (UIC) as co-editors, alongside Paul Carrillo (GWU) and Alvin Murphy (ASU). The journal also welcomes Edward Kung (California State University-Northridge), Daniel McMillen (UIC), and Christophe Spaenjers (CU Boulder) to the editorial board. Further, REE announced a new special issue on commercial real estate, moved to advance data-sharing standards to align with best practices, and expanded international recognition efforts. Together, these developments underscore REE’s continued commitment to scholarly excellence, impact, and service to the global real estate research community.

  • Deepen global presence: AREUEA will continue to expand its international reach while remaining grounded in its North American core. In 2026, we will host our first-ever Latin America Conference in Medellín, Colombia, and begin preparing for the 2027 International Conference in Seoul, South Korea. We’re also proud to launch a long-term partnership with the Asian Real Estate Society (AsRES): going forward, AREUEA and AsRES will co-organize our international conference every three years when it rotates to Asia – starting with the 2027 Seoul meeting. In 2025, Jorge De la Roca and the International Committee organized an exceptionally successful conference in Barcelona. This year, Tingyu Zhou will chair the committee, and we look forward to even more growth in AREUEA’s global presence.

  • Enhance our junior scholar ecosystem: AREUEA is deeply committed to supporting the next generation of scholars. In 2025, the Junior Scholar Program (JSP) featured 12 presenters, each paired with senior mentors, and earned strong feedback—4.83/5 recommendation rating. The Mentorship Committee, led by Tingyu Zhou in 2025, launched an alumni database and developed improvements for future mentoring and networking. In 2026, Kyle Mangum will chair the Mentoring Committee and build on this foundation. The Pipeline Scholars Program (PSP), led by Luis Lopez, selected 14 students from a record 42 applicants to participate in a dedicated roundtable and conference events. This year, Shawn McCoy will lead the PSP Committee and further expand its reach. The Awards Committee, led by Dragana Cvijanovic last year and Jiro Yoshida this year, will continue overseeing not only our annual honors but also the PhD Poster Session and Dissertation Awards. We look forward to another exciting year of mentorship, recognition, and inclusion.

  • Advance our research infrastructure and community platforms: We will continue to invest in the resources that support AREUEA’s research ecosystem and public engagement. Our AREUEA Data Insights initiative—launched under Xudong An and his Data Committee —made strong progress last year. In 2026, Arthur Acolin will lead the committee to build on this momentum and further develop this platform. The Virtual Seminar Series, led by Eunjee Kwon, continues to thrive; The Committee’s efforts in 2025 were outstanding, and we’re excited for another strong year ahead. On the Policy Communications front, we thank Rachel Meltzer and her committee for laying the groundwork for outreach and engagement. Gary Painter will take over this portfolio and continue to elevate AREUEA’s public-facing work. The Communications Committee, led by Mariya Letdin in 2025, helped streamline our messaging and launch new efforts like the REE podcast. In 2026, Ruchi Singh and her strong committee will expand this work further. The WREN Committee, led by Sonia Gilbukh last year, helped build stronger inclusion and engagement in our field. This year, Stanimira Milcheva will chair WREN, again supported by a dynamic team. Finally, our Membership Committee, chaired by Steve Billings, continues to focus on outreach, retention, and sponsorship—and will remain a key driver of member engagement in the year ahead.

  • Celebrate and empower our committees: AREUEA committees drive everything we do – from mentoring and programming to communications and governance. You can see the roster of the current compositions of our committees here. Thank you to our many committee chairs and members. We’ll soon issue an open call for volunteers for our AREUEA conferences and events – please consider getting involved.

I want to close by expressing my sincere appreciation to everyone who makes this community thrive – our Board, committee members, reviewers, presenters, conference organizers, and all of you. A special thanks to Albert Saiz for his dedicated leadership in 2025, and to our Board for their steady guidance and support.

If you have ideas, feedback, or want to get more involved, I’d love to hear from you. I look forward to working with you in the year ahead.

Warm wishes for a productive, collegial, and inspiring 2026,

Siqi Zheng
President, AREUEA
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Previous President Letters

President's Letter | Summer 2025
President's Letter | Winter 2025
President's Letter | Summer 2024
President's Letter | Winter 2024
President's Letter | Summer 2023
President's Letter | Winter 2023
President's Letter | Summer 2022
President's Letter | Winter 2022