Degrees

• Ph.D. University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
• Ph.D. University of California, Berkeley
• M.S. Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
• B.S.F. University of British Columbia

About

Professor Thomson is the Quincy Lee Distinguished Professor of Real Estate and Finance in the Carlos Alvarez College of Business at The University of Texas, San Antonio. He is also the research coordinator of the Real Estate Finance and Development Program. His teaching includes Real Estate Finance and Real Estate Investment at both the graduate and undergraduate level, Principles of Real Estate, Investments, and Principles of Corporate Finance. He is a recipient of the Carlos Alvarez College of Business faculty award for Overall Faculty Excellence, for Research, for Academic Service and for Community Service. He is a member of the American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association, The American Real Estate Society, The Urban Land Institute, CCIM, and the International Facility Management Association. He is the faculty advisor for the Roadrunner Wesley student organization.

Prior to joining the UTSA faculty Dr. Thomson held faculty positions at the University of Michigan and the University of Illinois as well as working professionally for Fortune 500 companies. He is a Canadian by birth (a native of Vancouver Island, British Columbia) and American via naturalization.

Research Interests

• Real estate finance including mortgage default, foreclosures and subprime mortgages
• Real estate brokerage, manufactured housing and the value of green in real estate

Selected Publications

• “An Empirical Assessment of the Value of Green in Residential Real Estate,” (with A. Cadena), The Appraisal Journal, Vol. 83, Winter 2015, pp. 32-40
• “Zillow’s Estimates of Single-Family Housing Values,” with D. Hollas and R. Rutherford,The Appraisal Journal, Vol. 78, Winter 2010, pp 26-32.
• “Residential Asking Rents and Time on the Market,” with M. Allen, and R. Rutherford, The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, Vol. 38, No. 4, 2009, pp. 351-365.
• “Subprime Transitions: Lingering or Malingering in Default,” with D. Capozza, The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, Vol. 33, No. 3, 2006, pp. 240-258.
• “Property Assessments and Information Asymmetry in Real Estate,” with F. Firozzi, D. Hollas and R. Rutherford, Journal of Real Estate Research, Vol. 28, No. 3, 2006, pp. 275-291.
• “Appraisal, Agency and Atypicality: Evidence From Manufactured Homes,” with D. Capozza and R. Israelsen, Real Estate Economics, Vol. 33, No. 3, 2005, pp. 509-537.
• “Optimal Stopping and Losses on Subprime Mortgages,” with D. Capozza, The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, Vol. 30, No. 2, 2005, pp. 115-131.
• “The Influence of Race in Residential Mortgage Closings,” with J. McMurray, The Journal of Real Estate Research, Vol. 25, No. 4, 2003, pp. 543-556.
• “Real Estate Agent Remarks: Help or Hype?,” wit J. Haig and R. Rutherford, Journal of Real Estate Research, Vol. 20, No. 1-2, 2000, pp. 205-215.
• “The Conditional Probability of Mortgage Default,” with D. Capozza and D. Kazarian, Real Estate Economics (AREUEA Journal), Vol. 26, No. 3, 1998, pp. 259-289.
• “Mortgage Default in Local Markets,” with D. Capozza and D. Kazarian, Real Estate Economics (AREUEA Journal), Vol. 25, No. 4, 1997, pp. 631-655.
• “Determinants of the Closing Probability of Residential Mortgages,” with J. McMurray, Journal of Real Estate Research, Vol. 14, No. 1-2, 1997, pp. 55-64.
• “Long Term Portfolio Returns From Timber and Financial Assets,” Journal of Real Estate Portfolio Management, Vol. 3, No. 1, 1997, pp. 57-73.
• “Optimal Forest Rotation When Stumpage Prices Follow a Diffusion,” Land Economics, Vol. 68, No. 3, 1992, pp. 329-342.
• “Efficient Combinations of Timber and Financial Market Investments in Single Period and Multiperiod Portfolios,” Forest Science, Vol. 37, No. 2, 1991, pp. 41-480.