Frank Nothaft, a number one housing skilled who served as chief economist for each Irvine-based CoreLogic and for government-sponsored mortgage large Freddie Mac, died over the weekend, CoreLogic introduced in a press release Monday, June 6. He was 66.
The loss of life was “was sudden and sudden,” the corporate assertion mentioned.
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 submit.
Nothaft was based mostly in Virginia, main a analysis group that offered financial evaluation, commentary and forecasting in international actual property, insurance coverage and mortgage markets.
“He was a prodigious purveyor of information, the go-to skilled for tendencies and forecasting and a trusted colleague and good friend to many at CoreLogic and the broader housing trade,” the corporate assertion mentioned. “Dr. Nothaft was a superb spokesperson and model ambassador, typically seen and quoted on Bloomberg Information, CNBC and the Wall Avenue 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 loss of life unfold rapidly via Southern California housing circles on Monday.
“He knew housing knowledge higher than anybody. He was additionally among the many most respectable human beings I've ever identified,” mentioned USC Professor Richard Inexperienced, director of the Lusk Heart for Actual Property. Inexperienced mentioned he labored with Nothaft for about 16 months at Freddie Mac. “He knew be directly exacting and sort. That could be a uncommon mixture.”
Leslie Appleton-Younger, the California Affiliation of Realtors’ chief economist from the early Nineteen Eighties via 2020, mentioned she was devastated by the information.
“He was at all times partaking, informative, beneficiant along with his time and experience and customarily made us all higher economists,” Appleton-Younger mentioned in a textual content. “His integrity was impeccable — a straight-shooter who welcomed any alternative to coach on the significance of housing, the worth of homeownership in addition to classes realized within the wake of the Nice Recession.”
Appleton-Younger mentioned Nothaft was an ideal useful resource for charting how the pandemic was impacting the housing market. Nothaft was not simply nicely revered, however humorous and caring, she mentioned.
“Our trade has misplaced one among 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 selections to organize for the longer term,” Fratantoni mentioned. “And Frank had an inimitable type, each by way of his shows and his ever-present bow tie.”
Nothaft was lively in his local people via his volunteer commitments, the CoreLogic assertion mentioned. 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 Neighborhood 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, instructing microeconomics for the graduate-level public coverage program, his LinkedIn profile mentioned. From 2010 till 2015, he was a Georgetown College College of Persevering with Research school member instructing 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, mentioned in a press release. “He was additionally an impressive chief and a type of extraordinary individuals who was liked 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 knowledge, which they used to trace a big selection of housing tendencies, from migration patterns to single household lease and charges of house purchases by traders.
CoreLogic’s database consists of at the least 4.5 billion information masking 99 p.c of U.S. properties over the previous 50 years. Data cowl deeds, mortgages, credit score, hazard dangers and different related property knowledge.
The agency produces three prime home-price surveys month-to-month, together with the S&P Case-Shiller House Value Index and the CoreLogic House Value Index, in addition to common experiences on foreclosures, money gross sales, pure catastrophe dangers and digital mapping.
CoreLogic is a significant supplier of property data to lenders in search of background through the loan-servicing course of and to insurance coverage corporations that depend on the agency for knowledge on property values and substitute prices. Purchasers embody Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Wells Fargo Financial institution.
The agency isn't 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 can be felt profoundly all through the group and past,” the CoreLogic assertion mentioned.