The Institute for Economic Development and Real Estate Research combines the resources of the Center for Economic Development and Real Estate Research Center to provide technical assistance and applied research for public, private and nonprofit organizations throughout its service area.

Center for Economic Development
The Center for Economic Development was established in 1978 as a joint effort of the state and federal government to work cooperatively with local agencies and non-profit organizations to create an environment which encourages economic diversification and growth. The Center at UNO is part of a network of over 65 university center programs funded by the U.S. Department of Commerce, Economic Development Administration throughout the United States which help direct the technical and human resources of institutions of higher education to their surrounding communities. The Center has been engaged in a wide variety of research and technical assistance programs involving resources from within the College of Business Administration as well as other colleges and community service units at UNO.

The Center assists local community and economic development agencies in preparing strategic plans to direct their growth and development programs and in preparing demographic and market studies of the opportunities that may exist to attract new business and retain and nurture existing firms as well as a variety of economic impact studies. The Center also publishes research bibliographies on various aspects of economic and community development, assists in the preparation of grant applications and sponsors conferences and seminars which present concepts, information and techniques that are helpful to local agencies and non-profit organizations whose focus is economic development at the state, regional or local level. The Center also offers an economic development internship program that allows local organizations to retain the services of graduate research assistants for periods of up to one year to work on specific projects or within a particular program. These internships provide the equivalent of an extended staff member for local organizations that very often have limited resources. The Center’s website is www.ced.uno.edu .

Real Estate Research Center

The Real Estate Research Center was established to serve the real estate community as well as the general public. The three main areas of services offered by the Center are professional real estate education, primary real estate market data and contract research.

The mission of professional real estate education is accomplished through continuing education courses and conferences, including the Annual Economic Outlook and Real Estate Forecast Seminar. These are offered through the College of Business Seminar Series and university courses designed to aid students obtain professional licenses or certifications as a real estate agent, broker or appraiser.

Primary market data is published in the Metropolitan New Orleans Real Estate Market Analysis annually. It covers real estate market trends in the metropolitan New Orleans region for apartments, office, retail and warehouse and industrial properties. The report also describes current trends for single-family and condominium housing by parish and Multiple Listing System (MLS) neighborhood. This analysis of the real estate market is distributed at the local, state and national levels.