Franz Fuerst - Professor of Real Estate & Finance

01 About

Franz Fuerst is Professor of Real Estate and Urban Economics at the University of Cambridge and Fellow/Director of Studies at Trinity Hall, Cambridge.

He holds fellowships at the Academy of Social Sciences, the J.M. Keynes Fund and the Cambridge University Land Society. As Co-Editor of Spatial Economic Analysis and principal investigator on numerous international research projects, he coordinates a team of doctoral and postdoctoral researchers.

Professor Fuerst is the principal author of several widely cited and award-winning studies on the pricing of sustainable features in international commercial and residential markets. Most recently, he won the 2022 ARES/CoStar best paper award for his joint analysis of healthy building certifications and the 2021 Nick Tyrrell Prize for his work on specialist non-listed funds.

His work in applied econometrics uses large sample datasets to estimate how the physical built environment shapes economic and financial outcomes in real estate markets via mediating channels such as energy consumption, occupant health, and environmental risks. Prior to academia, he worked at BNP Paribas Real Estate, responsible for market research and consultancy services around large-scale commercial real estate portfolio transactions.

Real Estate Finance Sustainable Buildings Climate Risk Spatial Economics Investment Analysis Urban Economics

Recent Awards

2022 ARES/CoStar Best Paper Award
2021 Nick Tyrrell Prize

Editorial Leadership

Co-Editor, Spatial Economic Analysis

Academic Fellowships

Academy of Social Sciences
Trinity Hall & J.M. Keynes Fund

02 Research Areas

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Green Buildings & Energy Efficiency

Core research area

LEED, Energy Star, BREEAM certifications and market impacts

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Portfolio Management & REITs

Financial economics

Real estate investment trusts and portfolio strategies

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Real Estate Valuation

Applied research

Green labels, market segmentation, and pricing

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Climate Change

Current focus

Climate risk pricing and carbon emissions

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Machine Learning

Methodological innovation

Interpretable ML for real estate analysis

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Spatial Economics

Editorial focus

Urban form, employment centers, and spatial patterns

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03 Recognition & Appointments

Recent Awards

ARES/CoStar Best Paper Award (2022)
Nick Tyrell Prize (2021)
Pacific Rim Real Estate Society Best Paper Award
Emerald Outstanding Paper Award

Academic Positions

Fellow, Academy of Social Sciences
J.M. Keynes Fund Fellow
Cambridge University Land Society Fellow
Fellow, Thrive Research Hub, University of Melbourne

Industry Experience

BNP Paribas Real Estate - Market Research & Forecasting
Commercial portfolio transaction consultancy
Policy advisor on sustainable building standards
EU Horizon 2020 programme Principal Investigator

Editorial Roles

Co-Editor, Spatial Economic Analysis
Editorial Board Member, various journals
Principal Investigator, EU Horizon 2020 programme
Research team coordinator for doctoral researchers

International Appointments

Global Visiting Professor, Technical University of Munich
Visiting Professor, Hitotsubashi University Tokyo
Fellow, Thrive Research Hub, University of Melbourne
Previous posts at City University of New York

Research Approach

My research applies econometric methods to understand the intersection of real estate markets, sustainability, and urban economics. I focus on using large-scale datasets to examine how environmental features and policies affect property values and investment decisions.

04 Selected Publications

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Green Buildings & Energy Efficiency

Fuerst, F., McAllister, P. (2011). Green Noise or Green Value? Measuring the Effects of Environmental Certification on Office Values. Real Estate Economics.
Fuerst, F., McAllister, P., Nanda, A., Wyatt, P. (2015). Does energy efficiency matter to home-buyers? An investigation of EPC ratings and transaction prices in England. Energy Economics.
Fuerst, F., Shimizu, C. (2016). Green luxury goods? The economics of eco-labels in the Japanese housing market. Journal of the Japanese and International Economies.
Akhtyrska, Y., Fuerst, F. (2021). People or Systems: Does Productivity Enhancement Matter More than Energy Management in LEED-certified Buildings? Sustainability.
Fuerst, F., Haddad, M., Adan, H. (2020). Is there an Economic Case for Energy-efficient Dwellings in the UK Private Rental Market? Journal of Cleaner Production.

Portfolio Management & REITs

Fuerst, F., Mansley, N., Wang, Z. (2021). Do Specialist Funds Outperform? Evidence from European Non-Listed Real Estate Funds. Research in International Business and Finance.
Ambrose, B.W., Fuerst, F., Mansley, N., Wang, Z. (2019). Size Effects and Economies of Scale in European Real Estate Companies. Global Finance Journal.
Candelon, B., Fuerst, F., Hasse, J.-B. (2021). Diversification Potential in Real Estate Portfolios. International Economics.
Cajias, M., Fuerst, F., Bienert, S. (2014). Can Investing in Corporate Social Responsibility Lower a Company's Cost of Capital? Studies in Economics and Finance.

Real Estate Valuation

Fuerst, F., McAllister, P. (2011). Green Noise or Green Value? Measuring the Effects of Environmental Certification on Office Values. Real Estate Economics.
Fuerst, F., Shimizu, C. (2016). Green luxury goods? The economics of eco-labels in the Japanese housing market. Journal of the Japanese and International Economies.
Costa, O., Fuerst, F., Robinson, S.J., Mendes-Da-Silva, W. (2018). Green label signals in an emerging real estate market. A case study of Sao Paulo, Brazil. Journal of Cleaner Production.

Climate Change

Li, Q., Fuerst, F., Luca, D. (2023). Do shared E-bikes reduce urban carbon emissions? Journal of Transport Geography.
Fuerst, F., Warren-Myers, G. (2021). Pricing Climate Risk: Are Flooding and Sea Level Rise Capitalised in Australian Residential Property? Climate Risk Management.
Akhtyrska, Y., Fuerst, F. (2024). The effectiveness of climate change regulations in the commercial real estate market. Energy Policy.

Machine Learning

Lorenz, F., Willwersch, J., Cajias, M., Fuerst, F. (2023). Interpretable machine learning for real estate market analysis. Real Estate Economics.
Cajias, M., Willwersch, J., Lorenz, F., Fuerst, F. (2021). Peeking inside the Black Box: Interpretable Machine Learning and Hedonic Rental Estimation. Working Paper.

Spatial Economics

Szumilo, N., Laszkiewicz, E., Fuerst, F. (2017). The Spatial Impact of Employment Centres on Housing Markets. Spatial Economic Analysis.
Fingleton, B., Fuerst, F., Szumilo, N. (2019). Housing affordability: Is new local supply the key? Environment and Planning A.
Wegener, M., Fuerst, F. (2009). Land-Use Transport Interaction: State of the Art. Working Paper.

View complete publication list

05 Teaching & Supervision

Teaching

Director of the Graduate Programme at the Department of Land Economy. Current courses include:

RE02 - Real Estate Finance and Investment
RE03 - Real Estate Development
Paper 11 - Urban and Land Economics

Research Supervision

Supervises doctoral students researching real estate economics, sustainable finance, and urban development. Past students have pursued careers in both academia and industry.

Professional Development

Contributes to executive education programs on ESG integration, climate risk assessment, and real estate investment strategies.

Research Supervision Areas

Sustainable Real Estate Investment

Climate Risk and Property Markets

Urban Economics and Spatial Analysis

Real Estate Finance and Capital Markets

PropTech and Innovation

Behavioral Real Estate Economics

06 Contact

Email

ff274@cam.ac.uk

Address

Department of Land Economy
17 Mill Lane
Cambridge CB2 1RX, UK

Research Profiles

SSRN IDEAS/RePEc ResearchGate CRERC