U.S. Housing Policy, Politics, and Economics

The stirrings of reform or more of the same? U.S. Housing Policy, Politics, and Economics shares a stark and urgent message. With a new president in the White House and the economy emerging from its peak pandemic lows, the time is right for transformative federal housing legislation—but only if Congress can transcend partisan divides. Drawing on nearly a century of legislative and policy data, this briefing for scholars and professionals quantifies the effects of Democratic or Republican control of the executive and legislative branches on housing prices and policies nationwide. It exposes the lasting consequences of Congress’ more than a decade of failure to pass meaningful housing laws and makes clear just how narrow the current window for action is. Equal parts analysis and call to arms, U.S. Housing Policy, Politics, and Economics is essential reading for everyone who cares about affordable, accessible housing.

Dr. Souza has 32 years of experience in the commercial real estate industry. Prior to working as Vice President - Data Analytics and Director of Research for Greensparc; Chief Economist for CapitalBrain.co; Vice President - Business Development and Associate Broker for SearchLight Lending; Real Estate, Financial and Investment Economist for Pillar6 Advisors, LLC; Economics Applications, Inc. (Johnson Souza Group, Inc.); Dr. Souza worked for New York Life Insurance Company/NYLIFE Securities as a Financial Services Professional; Charles Schwab Investment Management (CSIM) as Managing Director - Index Services; Chief Economist - Managing Director with Global Real Analytics (GRA); and Investment Advisor for Quantum Financial Network (QFN). Dr. Souza is a Registered Representative and Investment Advisor, Real Estate Consultant, and licensed California insurance agent and real estate investment broker providing economic and investment consulting services to retail and institutional real estate investors. He has also held senior positions in strategic portfolio research and analysis with BRE Properties, Metric Realty Advisors, Mellon-McMahan/MacFarlane Partners, Norris/Beggs & Simpson and Grubb & Ellis. Dr. Souza holds undergraduate and graduate degrees in several fields including: accounting, finance, economics, public administration, information systems and political science; and a Doctorate in Business Administration (DBA) with a concentration in Corporate Finance. His dissertation is titled: Modern Real Estate Portfolio Management (MREPM): Applications in Modern (MREPT) and Post-Modern (PMREPT) Real Estate Portfolio Theory. He has also been teaching college level courses for the past 19 years in Real Estate Principals, Finance and Development; Corporate Finance, Macroeconomics, Financial Institutions and Money and Banking, and Derivatives at Cal. State East Bay (Hayward), Golden Gate University (GGU), San Francisco (SFSU) and San Jose (SJSU) State University, Santa Clara University (SCU), University of San Francisco (USF), and Saint Mary's College (SMC). Dr. Souza is a Counselor of Real Estate (CRE), a Fellow of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (FRICS), and Certified Commercial Investment Member (CCIM); is a member of the American Real Estate Society (ARES), the American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association (AREUEA), and Urban Land Institute (ULI); has been mentor for the Robert Toigo Foundation; and has acted as an advisory board member for the Real Estate Research Institute (RERI), Bay Area Council (BAC)/University of Southern California (USC) Ross Program in Real Estate (San Francisco), Commercial Real Estate Women (CREW-SF) and Community Awareness and Treatment Services (CATs).

Hannah Macsata earned her B.S. in Business Administration with a concentration in Marketing from Saint Mary's College of California. She is a Bay Area native. Her interests include real estate marketing, strategy, and content creation.

Dustin Hartuv earned his B.A. in Economics at Georgetown University and is currently a J.D. candidate at Cornell Law School. His interests are in real estate, quantitative finance, and securities law. He is the author of A Tale of Time Apart.

Joshua Martinez is entering his junior year at Saint Mary's College of California. He is majoring in Kinesiology with a concentration in Sports Management. He is 20 years old and grew up in San Francisco, but has recently relocated to Concord, California.

Alicia Bilbrey-Becker earned her B.S. in Business Administration with a concentration in Marketing from Saint Mary's College of California. She is from the Bay Area and currently lives in Walnut Creek with her dog, Taz. Her interests include hiking, real estate, investing, and vintage fashion.