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David H. Downs

Alfred L. Blake Chair of Real Estate

The endowed Chair of Real Estate was created by the Virginia Realtors Foundation to satisfy the need for increased knowledge in the field of real estate and to keep professionals in this and related fields aware of new approaches to land development, financing, and marketing. The chair is named in memory of the late Alfred L. Blake, Sr., a founder of the Richmond-based firms of Mortgage Investment Corporation and Alfred L. Blake and Sons, Realtors. His son, Alfred, Jr., was instrumental in establishing this chair. The current chair is Dr. David Downs.


Faculty Profile: David Downs Ph.D.

David H. Downs (Ph.D., University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill) is the Alfred L. Blake Chair Professor of Real Estate in Virginia Commonwealth University's Real Estate and Land Development Program. His research interests include real estate finance and investment, issues relevant to institutional real estate investors and the implications of real estate regulation. Dr. Downs’ articles have appeared in various scholarly journals, including Real Estate Economics, the Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics and the Journal of Real Estate Research. He has received research grants from the Real Estate Research Institute and currently serves on the editorial board of Real Estate Economics and The Journal of Real Estate Research.

Selected Publications

  • Capital Distribution Policy and Information Asymmetry: A Real Estate Market Perspective (with Z.N. Guner and G.A. Patterson), Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, 2000.
  • Investment Analysis, Price Formation and Neglected Firms: Does Real Estate Make a Difference? (with Z.N. Gunter), Real Estate Economics, 2000.
  • Asymmetric Information and the Predictability of Real Estate Returns (with M. Cooper and G. Patterson), Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics 20:2, 2000, pp. 225-244.
  • Monitoring, Ownership and Risk-Taking: Additional Evidence from the Insurance Industry (with D.W. Sommer), Journal of Risk and Insurance 66:3, 1999, pp. 477-497.
  • Real Estate Securities and a Filter-based, Short-term Trading Strategy (with M. Cooper and Z.N. Gunter), Journal of Real Estate Research 18:2, 1999, 313-333.
  • Is the Information Deficiency in Real Estate Evident in Public Market Trading? (with Z.N. Gunter), Real Estate Economics 27:3, 1999, 517-541.
  • Characteristics of a Full-disclosure, Transaction-based Index of Commercial Real Estate (with B. Slade), Journal of Real Estate Portfolio Management, 5:1, 1999, pp. 95-104.
  • Guarantees, Risk and Insurer Ownership: An Empirical Study of the Option-theoretic Incentives (with D.W. Sommer), Journal of Banking and Finance.
  • The Value in Targeting Institutional Investors: Evidence from the Five-or-Fewer Rule Change, Real Estate Economics 26:4, 1998, pp. 613-649.
  • A Test of the Information in Real Estate Asset Returns, 1997, Real Estate Economics.
  • An Updated Look at the Size of the U.S. Market Real Estate Portfolio (with D.J. Hartzell and R. Pittman), Journal of Real Estate Research 9:2, 1994, pp. 197-212.
  • RealEstate Investment Trusts (with D.J. Hartzell), chapter in The Handbook of Real Estate Portfolio Management, R.D. Irwin, Inc., 1995, pp. 597-634.

Working Papers

  • The Determinants of Real Estate Asset Allocations for Life Insurers (with D.W. Sommer), Real Estate Research Institute, RERI, 2000.
  • Information Asymmetry in the Property-Liability Insurance Industry (with D.W. Sommer).

    • Interest Areas

  • Real Estate finance and investment
  • Issues relevant to institutional Real Estate investors
  • The implications of Real Estate regulation
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