After 30 years at Penn State, Ed Coulson came west this year to become director of the Lied Institute for Real Estate Studies and an economics professor at UNLV’s Lee Business School, succeeding Nasser Daneshvary. “Not only is Ed a nationally prominent figure in our field, he is a dynamic leader who will help take Lied to another level,” Rick Smith, chair of the institute’s executive advisory committee, said when Coulson was hired.
Is real estate an attractive profession again?
I think so. Certainly there are more opportunities than in the dark days following the market crash in 2007. The employment numbers bear this out. In Las Vegas, employment in real estate bottomed out in September 2010. Between then and this past June, it has increased over 20 percent; nationally, the increase was about 8 percent. Some of this is mere catch-up, I suppose, but some of it is surely due to increased opportunities in real estate.
What are enrollment numbers like for real estate studies these days? How does enrollment compare to the go-go days of the early 2000s?
I am told that enrollment at UNLV is increasing, but we have some way to go before we return to pre-crash numbers. We have to develop the sense among students that real estate is an attractive career path, and provide them with the broad-based education that real estate requires. The new real estate major that has recently been put in place by the economics department at UNLV’s Lee Business School aims to give students that broad-based curriculum. The Lied Institute will work with the Lee faculty and our board of advisers to make the major one of the best of its kind.
Where do you see the valley’s real estate market heading?
I am still new to the area and still getting my bearings, but the data exhibit trends in the residential sector that are encouraging. Home prices in Las Vegas have risen as fast as anywhere in the U.S., almost 40 percent over the past two years. Some of this rise is certainly due to the severity of the previous fall in prices, and represents some catch-up. Perhaps prices have not returned to their previous trend, but the numbers are certainly encouraging.
Other sectors seem more volatile, but the overall trends in commercial, industrial and multifamily prices seem positive since 2012. Overall, the worst would seem to be in the rearview mirror.
Do you have any recent news or updates about yourself, your work or your company that you’d like to share?
I am really delighted to be here, and I’m looking forward to working with everybody: students, UNLV faculty and staff, and the area’s real estate community.
Describe your management style.
Let people do their jobs. I am not sure this qualifies as a style.
If you could change one thing about Las Vegas, what would it be?
Nothing yet. So far, it’s been great. Ask me again in six months.
What are you reading?
I just finished Atif Mian and Amir Sufi’s “House of Debt.” The authors are two prominent scholars of the mortgage market who have a somewhat different take on the housing meltdown and the proper policy response.
I’m just getting started with “Shakespeare and the Countess.” I find Shakespeare really interesting, and this book tells the rather odd story of how Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre came into existence. But there is a real estate angle, too. The countess, it turns out, was one of the first NIMBYists (not in my backyard), objecting to the presence of a theater (and its rowdy patrons) near her residence. This was in the 1590s.
What do you do after work?
There are so many opportunities in the area: theater, music, movies, dining out, sports — and we are slowly sampling them all. For now, though, we are spending a lot of time enjoying and buying stuff for our new home. After 20 years in the same place, a new house is surprisingly exhilarating.
Where do you see the institute in 10 years?
The Lied Institute will be one of the leading institutes of its kind in the United States and an integral part of the Las Vegas real estate community.
What is your dream job, outside of your current field?
I have always felt privileged to do what I do. If a living could be made composing crosswords, I suppose that would be an interesting career choice.
Whom do you admire and why?
I admire all of the people who are close to me, for many reasons. I hope they know how much.
What is your biggest pet peeve?
Typos.
What is something that people might not know about you?
I finished 154th in the 1985 U.S. Open Crossword Puzzle Championship and then retired gracefully from competitive puzzling.