Skylar Olsen
"Humanizing data, science and economics"Skylar Olsen is principal economist at Tomo. In her role, she brings a unique flavor of consumer-friendly analytics to homeowners, homebuyers and home sellers navigating the rapidly evolving housing and mortgage markets.
Previously, Olsen was the senior principal economist at Zillow Group and a foundational member of the company’s public-facing economic research program. While at Zillow Group, she authored numerous research projects and directed many of the company’s data-sharing initiatives. Olsen has more than ten years of experience researching U.S. housing. Her research has been used by consumers, policy makers and other researchers to understand the real estate and mortgage industries and make better decisions.
An acclaimed public speaker and established commentator, Olsen regularly has appeared as a housing expert on local, national and international stages, television broadcasts, podcasts, print news and radio stations as well as testified before Congress’ Housing Financial Services Committee on fair housing issues. She will bring wit, wisdom and a little wackiness to any event. She believes that data has a big story to tell and that the term “funny economist” is not an oxymoron.
Olsen holds a doctorate in economics from the University of Washington, specializing in econometrics and environmental economics and was honored for teaching excellence.
Skylar’s Areas of Expertise
Housing trends
Mortgage data
Fair housing
Climate change
Speaker Topics
Housing By the Numbers
- Housing data is everywhere: NAR, Zillow, Redfin, local MLSs and more. Making use of it is the real challenge.
- Find out what data is the most important, how to interpret and talk about AVMs and how to use housing data to build your own brand.
Economic Decision Making
- The world is full of choices: Buy vs. rent, stocks or rental properties, a big house or early retirement.
- Walk through the economics of some of the biggest decisions people face in their adult lives.
Millenials vs. Boomers
- Millennials are finally hitting prime, first-time home-buying milestones at a time of crisis when the benefit of having solid home equity to draw from has never been more apparent.
- While homesownership’s appeal rings louder and clearer than ever, actually attaining homeownership has never been harder. Record low inventory, tough credit standards and unaffordable down payments.
- Learn about housing over generations and even into a global pandemic.
The K-Shaped Recovery
- The COVID-19 pandemic is the most significant shared experience of a generation. It impacts everyone, but not equally. Stark differences in economic health and recovery cut along income and industry lines, and between renter and owner.
- Hear about the particular challenges of communities more acutely impacted by the COVID-19 crisis.
Climate Change
- The next biggest crisis facing housing and real estate in the United States is already here — and it’s going to get a lot worse. From longer periods of drought, heavier storms, more frequent flooding, sea-level rise, extreme heat and wildfire, there is hardly an area in the United States that won’t be affected by climate change.
- Whether through migration, mitigation or resilient adaptation, U.S. homeowners, buyers and sellers need local information about climate-related risks to guide long-term decision making.
- Learn about the future of housing under climate change and what to do about it.
Booking Inquiry
Our top priority is to bring value to your organization and make your people more successful. Our speakers will customize their talk to meet your vision. We will conduct a pre-event conference with your team to discuss all event objectives and initiatives.
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