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The Â鶹ÊÓƵ economics group is comprised of esteemed economists who are available to provide in-depth and insightful presentations to a variety of audiences, including trade associations, businesses and media outlets. Our detailed data analyses focus on current economic and housing market conditions, demographics, policy and other current forecasting topics. This team of experts has given numerous presentations in recent years to local and national audiences. To schedule a presentation for your group, please email your request to econ@nahb.org.

Robert D. Dietz, Ph.D., is the chief economist and senior vice president for economics and housing policy for Â鶹ÊÓƵ, where his responsibilities include housing market analysis, economic forecasting and industry surveys, and housing policy research. Dr. Dietz has published academic research on the private and social benefits of homeownership, federal tax expenditure estimation, and other housing and tax issues in peer-reviewed journals, including the Journal of Urban Economics, Journal of Housing Research, the National Tax Journal and the NBER Working Paper series. He has testified before the House Ways and Means Committee, the Senate Finance Committee, and the Senate Banking Subcommittee on Economic Policy on housing and economic issues. Prior to joining Â鶹ÊÓƵ in 2005, Dr. Dietz worked as an economist for the Congressional Joint Committee on Taxation, specializing in revenue estimation of legislative proposals involving housing, urban development, and other business tax issues. He is a native of Dayton, Ohio and holds a doctorate in economics from The Ohio State University.

Ashok Chaluvadi is a senior economist for Â鶹ÊÓƵ where he is responsible for conducting and assisting with surveys, such as those measuring builder sentiment, finance issues and other related housing industry surveys. He also provides information on housing topics and related issues to Â鶹ÊÓƵ members, staff, financial institutions, Wall Street companies and other individuals. He holds a master's in economics from Ohio University.

Onnah Dereski is the manager of Economic Services at Â鶹ÊÓƵ. Her responsibilities include providing data, communications, and administrative support to the Economics staff, as well as to Â鶹ÊÓƵ members and HBAs. Prior to this role, Onnah worked for Â鶹ÊÓƵ Member Services as a 20 Clubs facilitator. She earned her bachelor's degree in business from Hope College in Holland, Mich., her home state.

Paul Emrath, Ph.D., is the vice president for survey and housing policy research for Â鶹ÊÓƵ where his responsibilities include conducting statistical and economic research for Â鶹ÊÓƵ and its local affiliates, as well as managing Â鶹ÊÓƵ’s survey and housing policy departments. The survey department conducts the monthly survey that generates the widely cited Â鶹ÊÓƵ/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index, as well as special surveys such as the one used to break down construction costs in a new home. The housing policy research department conducts a broad range of policy-related research such as estimating the economic impact of home building and analyzing proposed government regulations changes for Â鶹ÊÓƵ committees and councils. Since joining Â鶹ÊÓƵ in 1992, Dr. Emrath has developed many of the statistical methods Â鶹ÊÓƵ uses to analyze housing data, produced over 700 local impact of home building studies, and published more than 150 articles on a wide variety of housing related topics — twice winning National Investment Center awards for articles on 55+ housing. Prior to joining Â鶹ÊÓƵ, he taught economic theory and statistics at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh for four years. He holds a doctorate in economics from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

Jing Fu, Ph.D., is the director of forecasting and analysis at Â鶹ÊÓƵ where she monitors developments in the economy to identify trends and issues related to the housing industry. She also assists in forecasting and analyzing the state and metropolitan area housing market, producing research and articles detailing sectors and the geography of the home building industry. Prior to joining Â鶹ÊÓƵ, Dr. Fu worked at Thomson Reuters as a data specialist and has extensive knowledge and experience on quantitative research and large data set analysis. She holds a master's and doctorate in economics from the University of Kansas.

Fan-Yu Kuo is a senior economist at Â鶹ÊÓƵ where she conducts economic research related to macroeconomics and forecasting. She also assists in economic and housing data updates. Prior to joining Â鶹ÊÓƵ, Kuo was a research assistant at the Academia Sinica. She holds a master's in international economics and finance from Johns Hopkins University, as well as a master's in international political economy from King’s College London.

Eric Lynch, CBE, is an economist in the survey research group for Â鶹ÊÓƵ where he is responsible for conducting and assisting with surveys, including multifamily, remodeling, and other related housing topics. In addition, he provides data and information on housing topics related issues to Â鶹ÊÓƵ members, staff, financial institutions, and other stakeholders. Prior to joining Â鶹ÊÓƵ, he worked as a senior associate in the research and knowledge department at the American Society of Interior Designers (ASID), gaining industry knowledge on the built environment and residential market. He holds a bachelor's degree in political science/economics and Spanish from Towson University and a master's degree in applied economics from the University of Maryland.

Rose Quint is the assistant vice president for survey research at Â鶹ÊÓƵ where her responsibilities include planning and conducting industry surveys, specifically in the areas of builder sentiment, remodeling, housing affordability, and AD&C financing issues. She is also responsible for special research projects, such as studies on builders’ profitability, consumer preferences, construction costs and membership census. Quint holds a master's degree in economics.

Danushka Nanayakkara is the assistant vice president for forecasting and analysis at Â鶹ÊÓƵ. She oversees the activities of the forecasting and analysis section of the economics group which includes developing and maintaining national, regional, long-term, and remodeling expenditures forecasts. Before being promoted to assistant vice president, she worked at Â鶹ÊÓƵ as a senior economist. Prior to joining Â鶹ÊÓƵ, Nanayakkara worked at J.D. Power as a senior economic analyst in the automotive industry. She holds a master's in applied economics from Johns Hopkins University.

Natalia Siniavskaia, Ph.D., is the assistant vice president for housing policy research at Â鶹ÊÓƵ. She leads a wide range of statistical and economic research on various home building regulation and housing policy topics, including construction labor and immigration, environmental and zoning regulation, housing affordability, and the economic impact of home building, among others. While working for Â鶹ÊÓƵ, she developed a model for estimating housing’s contribution to Gross State Product. Before being promoted to assistant vice president, she worked at Â鶹ÊÓƵ as housing policy economist and senior housing policy economist. Prior to joining Â鶹ÊÓƵ in 2005, Dr. Siniavskaia was assistant professor of economics at the Coggin College of Business at the University of North Florida, and senior analyst at Corporate Executive Board. She holds a doctorate in economics from The Ohio State University.

Jesse Wade, CBE, is an economist and director of tax and trade policy analysis for Â鶹ÊÓƵ. Previously, Jesse served as an economist in the Â鶹ÊÓƵ Forecasting and Analysis Department. Prior to Â鶹ÊÓƵ, Jesse worked as a research associate at the Center for the Study of Services. He holds a master’s degree in applied economics from the University of Maryland and a CBE designation from NABE.

Na Zhao, Ph.D., is a senior economist at Â鶹ÊÓƵ where she is responsible for analyzing the local economic impact of home building and analyzing housing and industry data. She also conducts economic research on housing policies and monitors developments in government housing and real estate policies. She holds a master’s in consumer behavior and family economics, as well as both a master’s and doctorate in agricultural and applied economics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Lay Bragg is the senior manager of digital content for marketing and digital strategy at Â鶹ÊÓƵ. Her responsibilities include overseeing the content for Housing Economics PLUS, coordinating access for subscribers, customer assistance and database management. She also works with the International Builders’ Show™ (IBS) marketing team on the buildersshow.com site, as well as other marketing initiatives for various Â鶹ÊÓƵ groups. Prior to joining Â鶹ÊÓƵ, Bragg was the publications assistant and customer service representative for the Associated General Contractors of America.