Lawrence Yun is Chief Economist and Senior Vice President of Research at the National Association of Realtors. He oversees the production of existing home sales statistics and the popular Home Buyer and Home Seller survey reports. He regularly appears on CNBC, BBC, Bloomberg TV, and is often quoted in the media.[1][2][3] Yun is also a frequent speaker at Real Estate conferences throughout the United States. In March 2008, USA Today listed him among the top 10 economic forecasters in the country.[4]
Yun has been with NAR since 2000. Prior to that, he worked as an economic consultant to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and the U.S. Department of Education. While a research associate at the University of Maryland from 1995 to 1998 with the funding from the United States Agency for International Development, Yun helped develop a graduate economics curriculum and lectured at several universities in the former Soviet Union as that country transitioned from communism to a market-based economy.
Yun was born in South Korea. He attended primary and secondary schools in South Carolina. He received his Mechanical Engineering degree from Purdue University. He received his Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Maryland, studying under Professors Dennis Mueller and Mancur Olson.
Lawrence Yun, his wife Alla, and son James live in Arlington, Virginia.
Yun took on an unenviable task of following his predecessor David Lereah, who has been widely criticised and discredited in the media and in the realtor community. Yun has also been at times criticized for his predictions on the housing market. [5] His talks at national real estate conventions often draw a large crowd as his promotion of NAR's advocacy positions have often been adopted by Congress and the Administration.
He writes short commentaries on the economy and the real estate market on most working days.