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Selma Hepp is the Executive of Research & Insights and Interim Lead of the Office of the Chief Economist for CoreLogic, America’s largest provider of advanced property and ownership information, analytics and data-enabled services. Selma leads the economics team, which is responsible for analyzing, interpreting and forecasting housing and economic trends in real estate, mortgage and insurance.
Prior to joining CoreLogic in 2020, Selma was Chief Economist and Vice President of Business Intelligence for Pacific Union International, later acquired by Compass, where she oversaw the vital economic and technology intelligence to drive the expanding brokerage’s success. Selma also held the role of Chief Economist for Trulia; Senior Economist for the California Association of Realtors; and Economist and Manager for Public Policy and Homeownership research for the National Association of Realtors, as well as a special research assistant at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Selma frequently appears on local and national radio and television programs and has been widely quoted in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times and many industry trade publications such as National Mortgage News and HousingWire. Selma received the HousingWire Women of Influence Award in 2022. She has served as president of the Los Angeles chapter of the National Association for Business Economics (NABE), NABE Real Estate Roundtable co-chair, Board member of the International Student Exchange Program, Advisory Board member of the REALTOR® University Research Center Editorial Review and a Member of the Housing Policy Debate Editorial Advisory Board. Selma held a Real Estate Associate professional license in Florida and Virginia.
Selma graduated from the State University of New York, Buffalo with an M.A. in Economics and holds a Ph.D. from the University of Maryland.
Housing market activity slowed considerably over the summer, leading to widespread deceleration in home price growth and rising concerns of a real estate downturn.
Signs of slowing homebuyer demand are spreading wider across markets and are reflected in slowing price appreciation.
Increases in global wealth has spurred demand for luxury homes in both traditional markets as well as those that have not previously been considered to be luxury markets.
Despite the surge in mortgage interest rates and high home prices, buyers have remained resilient and continued to seek homes, keeping the market competitive.
The first quarter of 2022 was marked by some of the most competitive housing market conditions since the onset of the pandemic.
Home price growth continued to gain speed in early spring, as eager buyers tried to get in front of the mortgage rate surge. The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Index posted a 19.8% increase in February, the second month of accelerated growth after a winter lull. This was the strongest February year-over-year increase since the beginning of the data series.