Frank Nothaft, a number one housing skilled who served as chief economist for each Irvine-based CoreLogic and for government-sponsored mortgage big Freddie Mac, died over the weekend, CoreLogic introduced in a press release Monday, June 6. He was 66.
The dying was “was sudden and sudden,” the corporate assertion stated.
Nothaft, identified for his distinctive bow ties, served as CoreLogic’s chief economist since 2015, becoming a member of the agency after 25 years at Freddie Mac’s financial evaluation unit. He served as an economist for the Federal Reserve’s board of governors from 1983-86, in keeping with his LinkedIn publish.
Nothaft was primarily based in Virginia, main a analysis group that supplied financial evaluation, commentary and forecasting in international actual property, insurance coverage and mortgage markets.
Frank Nothaft (Courtesy of CoreLogic)
“He was a prodigious purveyor of knowledge, the go-to skilled for traits and forecasting and a trusted colleague and buddy to many at CoreLogic and the broader housing trade,” the corporate assertion stated. “Dr. Nothaft was a superb spokesperson and model ambassador, typically seen and quoted on Bloomberg Information, CNBC and the Wall Road Journal.”
The soft-spoken economist was a frequent speaker at Realtor and housing conferences, delivering clear, easy market analyses and home-price outlooks.
Phrase of Nothaft’s dying unfold shortly via Southern California housing circles on Monday.
“He knew housing information higher than anybody. He was additionally among the many most first rate human beings I’ve ever identified,” stated USC Professor Richard Inexperienced, director of the Lusk Middle for Actual Property. Inexperienced stated he labored with Nothaft for about 16 months at Freddie Mac. “He knew the right way to be directly exacting and sort. That may be a uncommon mixture.”
Leslie Appleton-Younger, the California Affiliation of Realtors’ chief economist from the early Nineteen Eighties via 2020, stated she was devastated by the information.
“He was all the time partaking, informative, beneficiant along with his time and experience and customarily made us all higher economists,” Appleton-Younger stated in a textual content. “His integrity was impeccable — a straight-shooter who welcomed any alternative to teach on the significance of housing, the worth of homeownership in addition to classes realized within the wake of the Nice Recession.”
Appleton-Younger stated Nothaft was an important useful resource for charting how the pandemic was impacting the housing market. Nothaft was not simply properly revered, however humorous and caring, she stated.
“Our trade has misplaced one in all its best possible.”
HousingWire quoted Mike Fratantoni, the Mortgage Bankers Affiliation’s chief economist, as saying Nothaft “was the perfect housing market analyst within the enterprise.”
He was “in a position to clearly and concisely convey data that helped our trade perceive the present market and make choices to organize for the longer term,” Fratantoni stated. “And Frank had an inimitable type, each by way of his displays and his ever-present bow tie.”
Nothaft was energetic in his area people via his volunteer commitments, the CoreLogic assertion stated. He served on the board of the non-profit Falls Church Housing Company, which owns Part 8 housing in northern Virginia. He acquired the Freddie Mac Group Service Award and was additionally the recipient of the 2020 HousingWire Vanguard Award.
Nothaft earned a bachelor’s diploma in arithmetic and laptop science with a minor in economics from New York College in 1976, graduating with honors. He acquired a doctorate in economics from Columbia College in 1986.
He was a senior lecturer on the Johns Hopkins Institute for Coverage Research throughout 2002-03, educating microeconomics for the graduate-level public coverage program, his LinkedIn profile stated. From 2010 till 2015, he was a Georgetown College College of Persevering with Research school member educating city actual property economics to graduate college students.
“Most individuals knew Frank as one of many nation’s premier housing economists,” Robin Wachner, a CoreLogic spokeswoman, stated in a press release. “He was additionally an impressive chief and a type of extraordinary individuals who was cherished and admired by everybody who was fortunate sufficient to know him.”
At CoreLogic, Nothaft’s group had entry to an unlimited trove of actual property information, which they used to trace a big selection of housing traits, from migration patterns to single household hire and charges of residence purchases by buyers.
CoreLogic’s database consists of at the very least 4.5 billion information overlaying 99 p.c of U.S. properties over the previous 50 years. Data cowl deeds, mortgages, credit score, hazard dangers and different related property information.
The agency produces three high home-price surveys month-to-month, together with the S&P Case-Shiller House Worth Index and the CoreLogic House Worth Index, in addition to common studies on foreclosures, money gross sales, pure catastrophe dangers and digital mapping.
CoreLogic is a serious supplier of property data to lenders searching for background in the course of the loan-servicing course of and to insurance coverage corporations that depend on the agency for information on property values and substitute prices. Purchasers embody Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Wells Fargo Financial institution.
The agency is not any stranger to sudden loss. In March 2017, firm President and Chief Govt Anand Nallathambi of Irvine died unexpectedly at 55 following a short sickness.
“Dr. Nothaft’s absence might be felt profoundly all through the group and past,” the CoreLogic assertion stated.
