Justin Benefield

EDUCATION
Ph.D. in Finance, University of Alabama, 2006
Master of Arts in Finance, University of Alabama, 2002
Bachelor of Arts Finance, University of Alabama, 2000
Bachelor of Science in Healthcare Management, University of Alabama, 1999

Justin Benefield is Academic Director of The Winchester Institute for Real Estate Development, Faculty Director of the Master of Real Estate Development program, the Thomas H. Lowder Endowed Chair of Real Estate and Professor of Finance in the Auburn University Harbert College of Business.

Dr. Benefield joined the Auburn University Department of Finance faculty in fall 2012 and began teaching regularly in the Master of Real Estate Development program in the spring of 2017. He has taught numerous finance and real estate courses at the undergraduate and graduate levels. In the fall of 2021, Dr. Benefield was named as Director of the Master of Real Estate Development program. In the fall of 2022, he was named Academic Director of The Winchester Institute for Real Estate Development.

Dr. Benefield’s primary research interests include residential real estate brokerage, sustainable real estate and real estate investment trusts. He has published over 35 articles in some of the leading journals in real estate and finance, including the Journal of Real Estate Economics and Finance, the Journal of Real Estate Research, the Journal of Housing Research, the Journal of Real Estate Portfolio Management, the Journal of Real Estate Literature, the Journal of Real Estate Practice and Education, The Appraisal Journal, the Financial Services Review, the Review of Financial Economics and the Journal of Financial Economic Policy. In addition, his work has been presented at a wide variety of regional, national and international academic meetings.

Dr. Benefield was ranked 21st in the inaugural Real Estate Academic Leadership global rankings based on number of publications over a five-year period in the top three real estate journals. He is a recipient of the William N. Kinnard Young Scholar Award from the American Real Estate Society, which recognizes high quality contributions to the real estate discipline early in one’s career. He is a past recipient of several teaching and research awards, including a 2014 American Real Estate Society Practitioner Research Award, the 2014 Harbert College of Business Outstanding Research Award, the 2010 American Real Estate Society Red Pen Award for the Journal of Real Estate Practice and Education, the 2003–2004 University of Alabama Award for Excellence in Teaching by a Doctoral Student and the 2003 American Real Estate Society Best Conference Paper Award in the Real Estate Brokerage category. Dr. Benefield is a very active member of the American Real Estate Society, and he is currently serving as Editor for that organization’s Journal of Housing Research. Dr. Benefield received his Ph.D. in finance from the University of Alabama in 2006. Prior to joining Auburn’s faculty, he taught at the University of Alabama for one year and the College of Charleston for six years.

RESEARCH INTERESTS
Real Estate Investment Trusts
Real Estate Brokerage
Regional Economics
Housing Markets
Commercial Real Estate Finance

NATIONAL LEADERSHIP POSITIONS
President-Elect, American Real Estate Society
Treasurer, James R. Webb American Real Estate Society Foundation
Editor, Journal of Housing Research