Team

Team

The platform consists of MIT faculty, researchers and industry partners.

Simon Camilo Büchler is a Post-Doctoral Fellow at the MIT/CRE affiliated to the Real Estate Price Dynamics Platform. He received his Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Bern in February 2020 with the thesis “How do economic forces affect the real estate market”.

Anne Kinsella Thompson is a Visiting Lecturer and Research Scientist at the MIT/CRE. She co-teaches Real Economics & Real Estate Finance at MIT/CRE. In addition, Anne does research examining the spatial relationships between real estate and other data utilizing GIS. She also works with Robert Shiller of Yale on the annual Home Buyer Survey.


Real Capital Analytics, Inc. (RCA) is a leading authority on the deals, the players and the trends that drive the commercial real estate investment markets. Data is at the forefront of RCA’s business – having recorded over $18 trillion of commercial property transactions linked to over 200,000 investor and lender profiles, and providing RCA subscribers a full micro to macro view of any chosen market. Across the globe, the most active investors, lenders, brokers and advisors depend on RCA’s unique insight to formulate their strategies, source new opportunities, and execute their deals. An industry pioneer since 2000, and MIT/CRE Industry Partner firm since 2005, RCA has earned a reputation of having the most timely and reliable transaction data and providing valuable intelligence on market pricing, capital flows and investment trends. RCA combined with the MIT/CRE to develop the world’s first repeat-sales commercial property price indices in 2006 (the first CPPIs), and regularly publishes the series of widely-read Capital Trends reports (Global, US, Europe and Asia Pacific) which are frequently quoted in industry news and academic research. RCA is privately held and headquartered in New York City with offices in San Jose, London and Singapore.


Alexander van de Minne received his PhD in Finance at the University of Amsterdam in 2015. Alex joined MIT/CRE in 2015. During his time as a Post-Doctoral Fellow and Research Scientist he founded the MIT/CRE Price Dynamics Platform. Alex is now Professor of Finance and Real Estate in the University of Connecticut School of Business.

Dorinth van Dijk is affiliated to the Real Estate Price Dynamics Platform. He received his PhD in Finance  from the University of Amsterdam in February 2019 with the thesis “Commercial and Residential Real Estate Market Liquidity”. He also works as an economist at De Nederlandsche Bank.​

Marc Francke is Professor of Real Estate Valuation at the University of Amsterdam. He has done extensive research on mass appraisal models, the calculation of property price indices in thin markets, and the impact of credit conditions on house prices. Apart from his university position professor Francke is Head of Real Estate Research at Ortec Finance.

Chihiro Shimizu is ​a Professor of Economics and Statistics at Nihon University in Japan.  His areas of expertise are Index Theory, Real Estate Economics, Applied Econometrics and Machine Learning.  Apart from his university position, professor Shimizu is an Expert Member in the Statistics Commission of the Cabinet Office of Japan and Chair of the Advisory Board for the Official Property Pricve Index of Japan at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transportation and Tourism (JMLIT).

John Clapp is Professor of Finance and Real Estate in the UConn School of Business, where he teaches Real Estate Markets as a Source of Cash Flows. Professor Clapp’s current research seeks to value the option to redevelop the existing bundle of property characteristics. This work establishes that traditional valuation methods omit variables designed to capture the proportion of value related to redevelopment options. 

Dr. Lyndsey Rolheiser is an Assistant Professor of Urban and Real Estate Economics at York University and a research affiliate with MIT’s Center for Real Estate. Her research is concerned with how spatial relationships within communities inform and are informed by the built environment. Dr. Rolheiser’s diverse training in urban and real estate economics, planning, local public finance, and urban policy allows for the exploration of urban complexities using a variety of methodologies and tools—from planning and economic theory to econometric analysis, GIS, and qualitative methods. Dr. Rolheiser received a PhD in Urban Economics from MIT, an MA in Economics from Simon Fraser University, and a BSc in Mathematics from the University of Alberta.