RISMEDIA, Nov. 6, 2007-The National Association of Realtors (R) named Lawrence Yun chief economist and senior vice president of research. Yun has served at NAR since 2000, most recently as vice president and senior economist.
“Lawrence is a talented economist and an outstanding forecaster who has contributed greatly to NAR’s growth and prestige as the leading advocate for the housing industry,” said Dale Stinton, NAR executive vice president and chief executive officer. “We are proud to have a man of Lawrence’s integrity and honor.
“He is a no-nonsense and level-headed analyst of the housing market who calls the data as he sees it, and has guided NAR with skill as chief spokesman for the past several months in a competitive real estate market. We have great faith and trust that Lawrence’s tenure will be a stellar one that will enhance NAR’s reputation as the most reliable and credible source of real estate research.”
Yun has been chief forecaster at NAR for several years and pioneered the development of the Commercial Leading Index after helping develop the residential Pending Home Sales Index. He is a member of the National Association of Business Economists and the Harvard University Industry Economists Council.
In demand as a speaker at many industry and economic conferences on housing trends and forecasting, he has delivered major addresses at Florida State University and Vanderbilt University, and has participated on forecasting panels at The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, the Blue Chip Consensus, Bloomberg and others.
“It is a great honor to be chosen to lead NAR research forward in these challenging times,” said Yun. “I am humbled and excited by this wonderful opportunity to contribute to NAR’s reputation as the top research organization in the housing and real estate industry.”
Yun has worked as an economic consultant to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and the U.S. Department of Education. While a research associate at the University of Maryland for three years, Yun developed the graduate economics curriculum for and taught free market economics in the former Soviet Union as that country transitioned from communism to a free-market system.
He also taught economics at the graduate level at the University of Maryland, where he received his Ph.D. in economics in 1995. He received a B.S. degree in mechanical engineering from Purdue University in 1987.
Yun and his wife, Alla, and their son, James, live in Arlington, Va.
For more information, visit http://www.Realtor.org.