Welcome!
I am an applied real estate economist that conducts research that broadly relates to housing markets and policy evaluation. This website provides an overview of my research and teaching.
About Me
I have a broad interest in real estate and urban economics, and tend to conduct research that relates to housing markets and policy, from a perspective of households. I have published papers on topics such as the pricing of foreclosed properties, the income-distributional effects of rent controls, informational asymmetries on the housing market, technologies for urban mobility, and office rent determinants.
Beyond real estate I have also done projects relating to household finance such as evaluating the impact of earned wage access on household financial well-being and projects on digitalization and the impact of data on organizations.
I regularly conduct applied policy research in collaboration with corporations and NGOs. Project partners include The Stockholm Chamber of Commerce, The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, The Swedish Fiscal Policy Council,The Swedish Federation of Wood and Furniture Industry, Jones LangLaSalle and Visa.
Before joining KTH Royal Institute of Technology as an Associate Professor, I held several positions at Stanford University, including the position of Research Director of the Digital Cities Corporate Affiliate Program at Stanford School of Engineering. In this role, I was a liaison between Stanford labs and over 20 corporations - including Amazon, CBRE, Microsoft, Prologis and Visa - developing and managing research projects across all fields of research.
Academic Positions:
Associate Professor, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, 2023 -
Visiting Associate Professor, Stanford University, 2025 -
Affiliated Researcher, Stanford University, 2023 - 2025
Lab Director, Stanford University, 2021 - 2023
Researcher and Research Director, Stanford University, 2020 - 2021
Postdoctoral Researcher, Stanford University, 2018 - 2020
Education:
PhD, Real Estate Economics,KTH Royal Institute of Technology, 2018
Visiting Student Researcher, Stanford University, 2017 - 2018
Visiting Scholar, The George Washington University, 2017
Law Studies, Stockholm University, 2012 - 2013
MSc, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, 2012
BSc, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, 2010
Research
Published Academic Papers:
Donner, H. and Persson, A. H. (2015). ’När är det sannolikt att ett avsevärt mycket högre pris kan uppnås vid en exekutiv försäljning av fast egendom?’ (’When is it likely that a considerably higher price can be achieved for a sale of foreclosed property?’, in Swedish), Juridisk Tidskrift (Stockholm University Law Review).
Donner, H., Song, H-S. and Wilhelmsson, M. (2016). ’Forced sales and their impact on real estate prices’, Journal of Housing Economics.
Donner, H, Englund, P., and Persson, M. (2017). ‘Hyresregleringens fördelningseffekter’ (‘Distributional effects of rent control’, in Swedish), Ekonomisk Debatt (Journal of the Swedish Economic Association).
Donner, H. (2017). ’Foreclosures, Returns, and Buyer Intentions’, Journal of Real Estate Research.
Donner, H. and Kopsch, F. (2018). ’Housing Tenure and Informational Asymmetries’, Journal of Real Estate Research.
Donner, H. and Loh, T. (2019). ‘Does the Starbucks Effect Exist? – Searching for a Relationship Between Starbucks and Adjacent Rents’, Property Management.
Caesar, C., Donner, H. and Kopsch, F. (2019). ‘The Impact of Leasehold Status on Apartment Price’, Journal of Housing Economics.
Donner, H. and Steep, M. (2021) 'Monetizing the IoT Revolution'. Sustainability.
Donner, H. and Kulander, M. (2025) 'Analyzing the relationship between housing and social engagement among the elderly'. Journal of Aging and the Environment.
Boberg, A., Donner, H., and Metsalo, J. (2026). ‘Leasehold Status and Apartment Prices: Exploring Price Efficiency and Optimal-Choices Among Housing Cooperatives’. Journal of European Real Estate Research.
Donner, H.(2026).'Queue-Based Allocation of Rent-Controlled Apartments: Consequences for Younger and Older Households’. International Journal of Housing Policy.
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Selected Policy Reports:
Donner, H., Englund, P., and Persson, M. (2017). ‘Distributional Effects of Deregulating the Stockholm Rental Housing Market’, Swedish Fiscal Policy Council.
Donner, H. (2018). ‘Värdering av råmark, byggrätter, och projektfastigheter: arbetssätt, problem och slutsatser’('Appraisal of development land and projects: methods, problems and conclusions’, in Swedish), Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS).
Donner, H. (2019) ‘Technology Landscape Survey in The Future of Transportation: Mobility in the Age of the Mega City’, Visa Inc. (Presented at the 2019 Mobile World Congress, in Barcelona, Spain).
Donner, H. and Kopsch, F. (2023). ’Hyresreglering för höginkomsttagare’ ('Rent control for high-earners', in Swedish). Timbro (Swedish Think Tank).
Donner, H. (2025).'Från reglering till rörlighet: vägar mot en fungerande hyresmarknad'('From regulation to mobility – pathways to a functioning rental market', in Swedish).Stockholm Chamber of Commerce.
Donner, H. (2026). ’Bostadsbyggandets incitamentsstrukturer: varför byggs det så få egnahem?’ (Incentive structures for housing construction: why are so few single-family houses built?, in Swedish). Trä- och Möbelföretagen (TMF) (The Swedish Federation of Wood and Furniture Industry).
PhD Thesis:
Awards:
2022: Nova111 Sweden. Listed on the most promising under 35 list, one of 10 in the category of NGOs and social impact.
2021: American Real Estate Society, Best Paper Award for Housing
2017: Sweden-America Foundation Scholarship for graduate studies in the US
2012: The Large Property Prize for best thesis in the field of real estate in Sweden (awarded by ISS)
Selected Presentations and Panels:
2026: Western Regional Science Association Annual Meeting, Santa Fe, NM; American Real Estate Society Annual Meeting, Destin, FL; 'Handelspodden', Handelsrådet (Association of Swedish Retailers) (podcast); 'Bostadsbrist eller ansvarsbrist: vad är bostadspolitikens verkliga problem?' ('A lack of housing or a lack of accountability? What is the real challenge in housing policy?', in Swedish), Uppsala University/Länsförsäkringar (Swedish insurance company), Almedalen, Sweden;'Unga och bostadsmarknaden – hur sänker vi trösklarna?'('Young people and the housing market – how do we lower the barriers to entry?', in Swedish), Länsförsäkringar (Swedish insurance company), Almedalen, Sweden; 'Hyresregleringen – en onödig propp för kompetensförsörjning och tillväxt' ('Rent Regulation – An Unnecessary Bottleneck for Skills Supply and Economic Growth', in Swedish), Svenskt Näringsliv (Federation of Swedish Enterprise).
2025: American Real Estate Society Annual Meeting, Tucson, AZ; 'Framåtblick Sverige': Länsförsäkringar, Stockholm, Sweden; 'Ledarpodden', Svenska Dagbladet (podcast); 5th International Workshop on Rent Control, Tarragona, Spain; Skånskt Bostadsforum (South Sweden Housing Forum), Malmö, Sweden.
2024: Western Regional Science Association Annual Meeting, Monterrey, CA; American Real Estate Association Annual Conference Annual Meeting, Orlando, FL.
2023: Western Regional Science Association Annual Meeting, Kona, HI; University of Pennsylvania, Wharton/Stockholm School of Economics (panelist), San Francisco, CA.
2022: American Real Estate Society, Annual Meeting, Bonita Springs, FL.
2021: American Real Estate Society, Annual Meeting (online); RealPlay, Podcast
2019: VivaTech: How tech will shape urban environments, San Jose, CA (panelist); Disruptive Technologies and Digital Cities Annual Summit, Stanford CA (keynote); Orange Telecom Corporate Council on Smart Cities, San Fransisco, CA.
2018: Stanford University Disruptive Technologies and Digital Cities Affiliate Meeting, Stanford, CA; American Real Estate Society, Annual Meeting, Fort Myers, FL (session chair).
2016: American Real Estate Society Annual Meeting, Denver, CO; American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association Intl. Conference, Alicante, Spain
2015: American Real Estate Society Annual Meeting, Fort Myers, FL; Western Regional Science Association Annual Meeting, Tucson, AZ.
2014: Western Regional Science Association Annual Meeting, San Diego, CA.
Teaching
Current:
KTH Royal Institute of Technology: Introductory Microeconomics (undergraduate); Real Estate Finance and Investment (undergraduate).
Ongoing supervision of masters students (current: 6) and PhD students (current: 3)
Past (selected):
Stanford University: Sustainable Mobility Seminar (graduate)
KTH Royal Institute of Technology: Credit Risk Assessment (undergraduate), Applied Statistics (undergraduate); Econometrics with Real Estate Applications (masters); Organization and Leadership (undergraduate); Corporate Finance (masters); Construction Economics (Executive Education).