Introducing Erin Browne, the new Economic and Market Analysis Division Director

Erin Browne, director of the Economic and Market Analysis Division in the Office of Policy Development and Research.

Greetings! My name is Erin Browne, and I am the new director of the Economic and Market Analysis Division (EMAD) in the Office of Policy Development and Research (PD&R). EMAD is the division that HUD’s field economists work under and is the only PD&R division based in the field. Recently, EMAD underwent a reorganization, adding two HUB directors, Patricia Moroz and Samuel Young, who assumed their new roles as I stepped into the director position. I am thrilled to have them on my leadership team.

This is my 20th year working in EMAD and over the course of my career thus far, I have analyzed housing markets during some of the most significant economic events in our nation’s recent history. I first joined EMAD in 2004 as an entry-level field economist in HUD’s Atlanta Regional Office. HUD’s Southeast/Caribbean region is one of the busiest regions in the country for Federal Housing Administration (FHA) multifamily activity and during my time in Atlanta, I estimated housing demand for FHA and published reports on the region’s economic and housing market conditions. One of the more memorable analyses I completed in the southeast was on Gulfport-Biloxi, Mississippi, after the destruction caused by Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

In 2007, I relocated to HUD’s Tucson Field Office as the nation’s housing market was in the early stages of the foreclosure crisis. Although I continued to analyze markets in the southeast, I began conducting research on housing markets in Arizona. This proved to be an interesting time to be a field economist as the nation entered the Great Recession, foreclosures skyrocketed, and rental markets softened. During the nation’s recovery from the Great Recession, FHA played a critical role in the multifamily finance market as standard lending options became more difficult to obtain. As FHA became an exceedingly popular mechanism for financing multifamily housing, my fellow field economists and I took on a high volume of market reviews.

In late 2009, I relocated again, this time to HUD Headquarters in Washington, DC, to work under my predecessor, Pamela Sharpe. Moving to HUD Headquarters opened doors for me, and my role within the organization expanded. During my time in Washington, I have worked on various impactful projects within EMAD, but I have also collaborated with other divisions in PD&R and offices in HUD. One of the higher-profile projects I’ve participated in is the development of the National Comprehensive Housing Market Analysis report. This annual report was first produced in January 2020, just before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

As I assume my new role as EMAD director, I am optimistic about the future of our organization. I am grateful to have inherited a talented and hardworking team of housing market experts. As the division transitions into this next phase, you can expect EMAD to continue advancing the economic intelligence and publications that we produce for our customers. To read the latest EMAD publications, visit the U.S. Housing Market Conditions website, where you can also subscribe to receive research updates in your areas of interest.