Research

Real Estate Research

Through its community-centric real estate research, the Childress Klein Center for Real Estate advances topics with relevance for policymakers, government leaders, other researchers and consumers. Center faculty were published in leading research journals, with topics ranging from racial disparities among homeowners to political influence in mortgage lending.

As just one example of the far-reaching impact of the research, the paper “School Quality as a Catalyst for Bidding Wars and New Housing Development” provided new evidence of the demand for better schools as seen in bidding wars and changes to the built environment. Another study, “Venture Capital and Corporate Social Responsibility,” examines the impact of venture capital (VC) on corporate social responsibility performance in China. Exploiting the timing of VC exit, the research study finds that the corporate social responsibility performance of VC-backed companies improves after the exit of VC.

State of Housing in Charlotte Report

First released in 2019, the award-winning annual State of Housing in Charlotte Report is critical and applicable research that offers a starting point for discussions regarding housing policy in the Charlotte region. The report seeks to provide a comprehensive, data-driven analysis of the state of housing in Charlotte and the surrounding area and is intended for use by policymakers, market participants and residents of the region as they make decisions regarding housing and housing markets.

The report draws from seven primary data sources and focuses on Mecklenburg County and surrounding counties: Cabarrus, Gaston, Iredell, Lincoln, and Union in North Carolina, and Lancaster and York in South Carolina. The report is the go-to source for news media seeking reliable data about the Charlotte region’s housing.

Previous Reports

Research Productivity

From 2018 to 2023, the Center’s researchers demonstrated a notably high level of research output, with a significant numbers of papers published in leading journals, particularly when compared to faculty at larger, top-tier institutions with greater numbers of faculty focused on real estate.

Here are recent/selected publications from our research team.

Recent Research/Publications
  • Munneke, H.J. and Womack, K.S., (2020). Valuing the Redevelopment Option Component of Urban Land Values. Real Estate Economics, 48(1), 294-338

  • Chen, Y., Clark S., and Womack, K.S., (2021). A Real Options Model of Real Estate Development with Entitlement Risk, Real Estate Economics, 49(1), 106-151.

  • Mulherin, J.H., and Womack, K.S., (2015). Competition, Auctions & Negotiations in REIT Takeovers. Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, 50(2), 151-180.
  • Munneke, H.J. and Womack, K.S., (2015). Neighborhood Renewal: The Decision to Renovate or Teardown. Journal of Regional Science and Urban Economics, 54, 99-115.

  • Womack, K.S., (2014). Real Options and Urban Land Values: A Review of the Literature. Journal of Real Estate Literature, 23(1), 53-63.

  • Womack, K.S., (2013). Identifying Redevelopment and Other Land Use Changes: No Permits Required. Real Estate Finance, 30(1), 2-6.

  • Womack, K.S. (2012). Real Estate Mergers: Corporate Control & Shareholder Wealth. Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, 44(4), 446-471.