abouTreal estate

Local Econonist at Forefront of Real Estate Market
By JENNIFER MADDOX

Since its inception in 1971, the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University has gradually become one of the most sought-after resources of real estate expertise in the nation. Much of the Center’s most recent national exposure can be attributed to their chief economist, Dr. Mark Dotzour.

The Center was once known primarily for single family housing and rural land research. However, when Dotzour was hired, former Real Estate Center Director Malcolm Richards challenged him to develop research expertise on commercial real estate and to try to increase national awareness of the Center.

“So that’s what I’ve been doing for the last 10 years,” said Dotzour, “opening up commercial real estate research and making speeches all over the country to help people become more aware of what the Real Estate Center is and what kind of information and analysis that we can provide.”

Dotzour started with the Center in 1997 on a year-to-year contract after Richards persuaded him to leave a tenured position as a professor of real estate at Wichita State University and move to Texas. Aside from his love of the state, the job appealed to him because although he has a lifelong background in real estate, his true interest is learning.

“I get paid to learn, which is what I love to do,” said Dotzour. “And the quid quo pro is that I turn around and share everything I learn with the public.”
To share his knowledge, Dotzour spends much of his time traveling to speaking engagements. Throughout the course of his travels, he has attempted to drive virtually every highway in Texas in order to get a better feel for his topic of research.

“We have so many different economies here that it’s a real challenge to try and stay on top of it,” he said. “And I’ve found that the only way you can talk knowledgeably about things is to go see them and be a part of it.”


In 2007 alone, Dotzour made close to 60 presentations in Texas and spoke to trade groups all over the county, including the National Association of Business Economics, the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties, the International Council of Shopping Centers, and the Institute for Luxury Marketing. In June, he appeared on PBS’ “The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer” to discuss how housing market conditions in Texas differ from the rest of the country. Furthermore, Dotzour and fellow Real Estate Center researchers Jim Gaines and Charlie Gilliland were quoted in such publications as the Wall Street Journal, Chicago Tribune, New York Times, Baltimore Sun, Los Angeles Times, Miami Herald, San Francisco Chronicle, Seattle Times, and Forbes and Money magazines.

This year will produce interesting topics for Dotzour. The principle issue that he will be researching in 2008 is the projected economic decline in the United States and how it will affect Texas. There is easily a 50% chance of a recession for the U.S. this year, he explained. However, the question will be whether Texas will participate in that recession because although there are problems in the mortgage, banking, and automotives industries, the Texas economy is still doing relatively well. Other topics of research slated for this year include the outlook of the commercial industry, land markets, and the importance of green building.