Leadership

Unique Experience
Beginning at M/PF Research in 1973, Ron Witten has spent a career studying and understanding the demographic, economic and market forces shaping apartment property performance.

President of M/PF since 1978, Witten led M/PF as the firm became a national leader in apartment market data and market analysis. Under his leadership, M/PF provided market research services to the nation's leading apartment companies. In July 1999, M/PF became a wholly owned subsidiary of RealPage, Inc., the leading provider of property management software to the apartment industry. He continued as president of M/PF prior to forming his new company, Witten Advisors, in January 2001.

Working closely with senior management of the country's major apartment developers and investors for over 20 years, Witten has developed a principal's perspective. This experience has highlighted the challenges, and the value, of making the right decision on each prospective investment. Thus, the mission of Witten Advisors: to lead investors and developers to "market-smart" decisions on apartment acquisitions and on new developments.

Industry Involvement
Ron has been a frequent speaker on market conditions as well as emerging demographic forces shaping the apartment markets, addressing meetings sponsored by organizations including the National Multi Housing Council, the Urban Land Institute, Multi-Housing World, Multifamily Executive Educational Conference, National Apartment Association, NAREIT, and others.

Witten wrote the chapter on market analysis in the ULI's Multifamily Housing Development Handbook and co-authored ULI's Real Estate Market Analysis text as well as books on real estate markets and investment strategies. He has lectured on real estate markets at Southern Methodist University and the University of Southern California and served as a director of banks and thrifts, both on behalf of management and at the request of federal regulatory authorities.

Ron has been particularly active in the Urban Land Institute and the National Multi Housing Council. He is presently Chairman of ULI's Multi-Family Silver Council, after chairing the Multifamily Gold Council for three years and serving on ULI's Program Committee for six years prior. He serves on the National Multi Housing Council's Research Roundtable and presents a "state of the markets" address each January prior to the NMHC annual meeting. Witten co-developed and authored the NMHC's quarterly Market Trends newsletter for the first few years of its publication.

Educational Background
Ron received a BBA degree in Marketing from Texas Tech University and has completed graduate classes in Statistics and Economics at SMU.