James Vickery

Adjunct Associate Professor of Real Estate

Contact Information

Primary Email:
vickeryj@wharton.upenn.edu

Overview

James Vickery is a financial economist who studies financial intermediation, real estate finance, and household finance, with a focus on mortgage and MBS markets. His recent research includes studies of bank securities portfolios, mortgage credit supply, forbearance policies, MBS market fragmentation, and the effects of technology on mortgage lending.

James is an Adjunct Associate Professor in the Real Estate Department at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, and a Senior Economic Advisor and Economist in the Research Department of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia. He joined the Bank in 2019 from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. In addition to research, James has contributed to a range of Federal Reserve policy initiatives, including serving as Deputy Chair of the Model Oversight Group that directs the Fed’s supervisory stress tests. He has also previously taught at New York University and Princeton.

James joined the Federal Reserve in 2004 after earning a PhD in Economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Prior to graduate school he was a research analyst at the Reserve Bank of Australia.

Teaching

Current Courses (Fall 2025)

FNCE2090 - Real Estate Investments
This course provides an introduction to real estate investing with a focus on financial and economic analysis. It is intended both as a foundational class for students considering a career in real estate as well as a survey class for students interested in finance who want to learn about the real estate sector. Project evaluation, financing strategies, risk assessment, investment decision making, and real estate capital markets are covered. No prior knowledge of the industry is required, but students will rapidly acquire a working knowledge of real estate markets and will quickly develop the quantitative tools to help them make investment decisions. Classes are conducted in a standard lecture format with discussion required. The course contains cases that help students evaluate the impact of more complex financing and capital markets tools used in real estate. There are three case studies and two midterms. FNCE 1000 is required as the class assumes comfort with Corporate Finance concepts and terms.
FNCE2090401 ( Syllabus )
REAL2090 - Real Estate Investments
This course provides an introduction to real estate investing with a focus on financial and economic analysis. It is intended both as a foundational class for students considering a career in real estate as well as a survey class for students interested in finance who want to learn about the real estate sector. Project evaluation, financing strategies, risk assessment, investment decision making, and real estate capital markets are covered. No prior knowledge of the industry is required, but students will rapidly acquire a working knowledge of real estate markets and will quickly develop the quantitative tools to help them make investment decisions. Classes are conducted in a standard lecture format with discussion required. The course contains cases that help students evaluate the impact of more complex financing and capital markets tools used in real estate. There are three case studies and two midterms. FNCE 1000 is required as the class assumes comfort with Corporate Finance concepts and terms.
REAL2090401 ( Syllabus )

All Courses

FNCE2090 - Real Estate Investments
This course provides an introduction to real estate investing with a focus on financial and economic analysis. It is intended both as a foundational class for students considering a career in real estate as well as a survey class for students interested in finance who want to learn about the real estate sector. Project evaluation, financing strategies, risk assessment, investment decision making, and real estate capital markets are covered. No prior knowledge of the industry is required, but students will rapidly acquire a working knowledge of real estate markets and will quickly develop the quantitative tools to help them make investment decisions. Classes are conducted in a standard lecture format with discussion required. The course contains cases that help students evaluate the impact of more complex financing and capital markets tools used in real estate. There are three case studies and two midterms. FNCE 1000 is required as the class assumes comfort with Corporate Finance concepts and terms.
REAL2090 - Real Estate Investments
This course provides an introduction to real estate investing with a focus on financial and economic analysis. It is intended both as a foundational class for students considering a career in real estate as well as a survey class for students interested in finance who want to learn about the real estate sector. Project evaluation, financing strategies, risk assessment, investment decision making, and real estate capital markets are covered. No prior knowledge of the industry is required, but students will rapidly acquire a working knowledge of real estate markets and will quickly develop the quantitative tools to help them make investment decisions. Classes are conducted in a standard lecture format with discussion required. The course contains cases that help students evaluate the impact of more complex financing and capital markets tools used in real estate. There are three case studies and two midterms. FNCE 1000 is required as the class assumes comfort with Corporate Finance concepts and terms.

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