Real Estate Capital Markets
MIT's half-semester course surveys the public capital market vehicles used to finance real estate, focusing on REITs and mortgage-backed securities, with particular emphasis on commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS). The course covers background in modern portfolio theory and equilibrium asset pricing before examining how these markets value real estate capital investments. Originally designed for MIT's Master of Science in Real Estate Development students, it comes from the Center for Real Estate within the Urban Studies and Planning program, with Sloan School of Management crossover. Materials are provided through MIT OpenCourseWare under a Creative Commons license, typically including lecture notes, readings, and assignments covering REIT structures, securitization mechanics, and capital market pricing models. The course assumes some quantitative finance background and suits students or professionals wanting a grounded introduction to how Wall Street prices and trades real estate as a financial asset class.