Christopher J. Mayer
Paul Milstein Professor of Real Estate
Finance
Co-Director
The Paul Milstein Center for Real Estate
BS, University of Rochester, 1987; PhD, MIT, 1993
Joined CBS in 2003
Office:
721
Kravis
Phone:
212-854-4221
E-mail:
[email protected]
Fax:
212-662-8474
Personal Website
Curriculum Vitae
Biography
Christopher Mayer is the Paul Milstein Professor of Real Estate at Columbia Business School. His research explores a variety of topics in real estate and financial markets, including housing cycles, mortgage markets, debt securitization, and commercial real estate valuation. Dr. Mayer is also CEO of Longbridge Financial, an innovative reverse mortgage company focused on delivering responsible home equity products to older Americans to help finance retirement. Professor Mayer serves as a Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research, a Director of the National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association, and a member of the Academic Advisory Boards for Standard and Poor's and the Housing Policy Center at the Urban Institute. His research has received funding from the National Science Foundation and the Pew Charitable Trusts.
Dr. Mayer is active in the media and advising policymakers, testifying six times before committees of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, writing a paper for the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission, and authoring numerous op-ed articles in major publications. Dr. Mayer previously served as Senior Vice Dean at Columbia Business School and held positions at The Wharton School, the University of Michigan, Harvard Business School, and the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. He earned a BS in Math and Economics from the University of Rochester with highest honors and a PhD in Economics from MIT.
Teaching
Spring 2022
Real Estate as an Asset and a Business
(EMBA)
Spring 2021
Distressed Real Estate Investing
(MBA)
Real Estate as an Asset and a Business
(EMBA)
Spring 2020
NYC Immersion Seminar: Real Estate Development
(MBA)
Real Estate as an Asset and a Business
(EMBA)
Spring 2019
Real Estate as an Asset and a Business
(EMBA)
Spring 2018
Real Estate as an Asset and a Business
(EMBA)
Fall 2018
Columbia Caseworks cases
Minerve: Evaluating the Issuance of a New CDO
(2011)
Coauthor(s): Chris Mayer
The 2-28 Mortgage: When Business and Psychology Intersect in a New Consumer Product
(2011)
Coauthor(s): Eric J. Johnson, Chris Mayer
Research
Journal articles
Misinformed Speculators and Mispricing in the Housing Market
In Review of Financial Studies
(2016)
Coauthor(s): Alex Chinco, Christopher Mayer
Mortgage Modification and Strategic Behavior: Evidence from a Legal Settlement with Countrywide
In American Economic Review
(2014)
Coauthor(s): Christopher Mayer, Edward Morrison, Tomasz Piskorski, Arpit Gupta
The Inefficiency of Refinancing: Why Prepayment Penalties Are Good for Risky Borrowers
In Journal of Financial Economics
(2013)
Coauthor(s): Christopher Mayer, Tomasz Piskorski, Alexei Tchistyi
Superstar Cities
In American Economic Journal: Economic Policy
(2013)
Coauthor(s): Christopher Mayer, Todd Sinai, Joseph Gyourko
Housing Bubbles: A Survey
In Annual Review of Economics
(2011)
Coauthor(s): Christopher Mayer
Issuer Credit Quality and the Price of Asset-Backed Securities
In The American Economic Review: Papers and Proceedings
(2010)
Coauthor(s): Oliver Faltin-Traeger, Kathleen Johnson, Christopher Mayer
Irreversible Investment, Real Options, and Competition: Evidence from Real Estate Development
In Journal of Urban Economics
(2009)
Coauthor(s): Laarni Bulan, Christopher Mayer, Tsur Somerville
Essay: A New Proposal for Loan Modifications
In Yale Journal on Regulation
(2009)
Coauthor(s): Christopher Mayer, Edward Morrison, Tomasz Piskorski
Why Do Households Without Children Support Local Public Schools? Linking House Price Capitalization to School Spending
In Journal of Urban Economics
(2009)
Coauthor(s): Christian Hilber, Christopher Mayer
The Mortgage Market Meltdown and House Prices
In <a href="http://www.bepress.com/bejeap/vol9/iss3/art8/">The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy</a>
(2009)
Coauthor(s): R. Glenn Hubbard, Christopher Mayer
The Rise in Mortgage Defaults
In Journal of Economic Perspectives
(2009)
Coauthor(s): Christopher Mayer, Karen Pence, Shane M. Sherlund
Assessing High House Prices: Bubbles, Fundamentals, and Misperceptions
In Journal of Economic Perspectives
(2005)
Coauthor(s): Christopher Mayer, Todd Sinai
Network Effects, Congestion Externalities, and Air Traffic Delays: Or Why Not All Delays Are Created Evil
In American Economic Review
(2003)
Coauthor(s): Christopher Mayer, Todd Sinai
Regulation and Capitalization of Environmental Amenities: Evidence From the Toxic Release Inventory in Massachusetts
In Review of Economics and Statistics
(2003)
Coauthor(s): Linda Bui, Christopher Mayer
Government Regulation and Changes in the Affordable Housing Stock
In Economic Policy Review
(2003)
Coauthor(s): Christopher Mayer, C. Somerville
Dividend Taxes and Share Prices: Evidence from Real Estate Investment Trusts
In Journal of Finance
(2003)
Coauthor(s): Christopher Mayer
Loss Aversion and Seller Behavior: Evidence from the Housing Market
In Quarterly Journal of Economics
(2001)
Coauthor(s): David Genesove, Christopher Mayer
Property Tax Limits, Local Fiscal Behavior, and Property Values: Evidence from Massachusetts Under Proposition 2 1/2
In Journal of Public Economics
(2001)
Coauthor(s): Katherine Bradbury, Christopher Mayer, Karl Case
Land Use Regulation and New Construction
In Regional Science and Urban Economics
(2000)
Coauthor(s): Christopher Mayer, C. Somerville
Residential Construction: Using the Urban Growth Model to Estimate Housing Supply
In Journal of Urban Economics
(2000)
Coauthor(s): Christopher Mayer, C. Somerville
Intergenerational Transfers, Borrowing Constraints, and Saving Behavior: Evidence from the Housing Market
In Journal of Urban Economics
(1998)
Coauthor(s): Gary Engelhardt, Christopher Mayer
Assessing the Performance of Real Estate Auctions
In Real Estate Economics
(1998)
Coauthor(s): Christopher Mayer
Equity and Time to Sale in the Real Estate Market
In American Economic Review
(1997)
Coauthor(s): David Genesove, Christopher Mayer
Reverse Mortgages and the Liquidity of Housing Wealth
In AREUEA Journal
(1994)
Coauthor(s): Christopher Mayer, Katerina Simons
Chapters
Housing, Mortgages, and Retirement
In Evidence and Innovation in Housing Law and Policy
(2017)
Coauthor(s): Christopher Mayer
Dispersion in House Price and Income Growth Across Markets: Facts and Theories
In Agglomeration Economics
(2010)
Coauthor(s): Joseph Gyourko, Christopher Mayer, Todd Sinai
Subprime Mortgages: What, Where, and to Whom?
In Housing Markets and the Economy: Risk, Regulation, and Policy: Essays in honor of Karl E. Case
(2009)
Coauthor(s): Christopher Mayer, Karen Pence
Subprime Mortgage Pricing: The Impact of Race, Ethnicity, and Gender on the Cost of Borrowing
In Brookings-Wharton Papers on Urban Affairs 2009
(2009)
Coauthor(s): Andrew Haughwout, Christopher Mayer, Joseph Tracy
U.S. House Price Dynamics and Behavioral Economics
In Policymaking Insights on Behavioral Economics
(2007)
Coauthor(s): Christopher Mayer, Todd Sinai
Working papers
Lemons and CDOs: Why Did So Many Lenders Issue Poorly Performing CDOs?
(2012)
Coauthor(s): Oliver Faltin-Traeger, Christopher Mayer
A New Look at Second Liens
(2012)
Coauthor(s): Donghoon Lee, Christopher Mayer, Joseph Tracy
Sponsor Risk and the Performance of Asset-backed Securities
(2011)
Coauthor(s): Oliver Faltin-Traeger, Kathleen Johnson, Christopher Mayer
Private Information and Market Making in Secondary Mortgage Markets
(2010)
Coauthor(s): Christopher Mayer
Rating Asset-Backed Securities
(2010)
Coauthor(s): Oliver Faltin-Traeger, Kathleen Johnson, Christopher Mayer
Agency Conflicts, Asset Substitution, and Securitization
(2007)
Coauthor(s): Christopher Mayer, Yingjin Hila Gan
What Can We Learn About the Sensitivity of Investment to Stock Prices with a Better Measure of Tobin's q?
(2006)
Coauthor(s): Christopher Mayer
Why Do Airlines Schedule Their Flights to Systematically Arrive Late?
(2003)
Coauthor(s): Christopher Mayer, Todd Sinai
The Effects of Share Prices Relative to Fundamental Value on Stock Issuances and Repurchases
(2003)
Coauthor(s): Christopher Mayer
Case studies
The 2/28 Mortgage: When Business and Psychology Intersect in a New Consumer Product
(2011)
Coauthor(s): Eric Johnson, Christopher Mayer
Ideas and Insights
In The Media
State of the U.S. Housing Industry
What a Real Estate Bubble Would Mean for Homebuyers
To Help Black Developers, Programs Start with Access to Capital
Will San Francisco, New York and Other Big Cities Recover from COVID-19? What a Post-Vaccine City Could Look Like
From Detroit to Oakland, Pandemic Threatens Urban Renewal
Magazine articles
Bubble Trouble? Not Likely
In Hermes
(2005)
Coauthor(s): Christopher Mayer, Todd Sinai
Awards And Honors
Analysis of Second Liens and a New Proposal, by Chris Mayer, Edward Morrison and Tomasz Piskorski, $25,000, June, 2012
Housing Policies to Restore Credit Availability and Attract Private Capital in the Mortgage Market, by Glenn Hubbard, Alan Boyce, Christopher Mayer and James Witkin, $25,000, June, 2012
University of Rochester, given every 2 years to "The Most Outstanding Economics Student," 1987.
Award 1124188--joint with Professors Edward Morrison and Tomasz Piskorski--$347,811: Understanding the Determinants of Household Default Decisions in the Mortgage Crisis, 9/1/2011-8/31/2014.
Award 0214410--joint with Todd Sinai--$337,000; Economics of Air Travel: Network Effects, Congestion, and Scheduling Delays, 2002-2004