Rate My Professor Michael Rehm

Dr Michael Rehm serves as Senior Lecturer in the Department of Property within the University of Auckland Business School. Originally from the United States, he earned a Bachelor of Architecture from the University of Houston in 1998 and a PhD in Urban and Regional Science from Texas A&M University. Following a brief period as an Intern Architect, Rehm joined the University of Auckland in 2005, where he has built a distinguished career in property education and research. His academic trajectory reflects a unique blend of architectural training and advanced expertise in real estate economics, enabling innovative contributions to property valuation and market analysis.

Rehm's research specializes in New Zealand property markets, with a particular emphasis on developing hedonic pricing models to quantify factors influencing house prices, including building defects, energy efficiency, speculation dynamics, and green certifications. Notable publications include 'Housing Prices and Speculation Dynamics: A Study of Auckland Housing Market' (Journal of Property Research, 2021, with Y. Yang), 'Judging a House by its Cover: Leaky Building Stigma and House Prices in New Zealand' (International Journal of Housing Markets and Analysis, 2009), 'Do Tenants Pay Energy Efficiency Rent Premiums?' (Journal of Property Investment & Finance, 2014, with J. Gabe), 'Cost-Benefit Analysis of Residential Green Buildings: A New Zealand Study' (SSRN, 2019, with R. Ade), and 'What is Drier? Understanding Humidity in Green-Certified Apartments for Older People' (New Zealand Journal of Botany, 2025, with R. Ade and V. Vishnupriya). His scholarship, with over 566 citations across 39 works, has shaped policy discussions on housing affordability, banking-driven speculation, and sustainable building performance. Rehm has received the University of Auckland Teaching Excellence Award in 2016 for Innovation in Teaching, shared with Dr. Olga Filippova. He coordinates key courses such as Building Construction, Property Issues and Trends, and Property Project, pioneering the use of virtual reality for virtual field trips and blended learning platforms like Top Hat to boost student attendance and engagement. Additionally, he supervises PhD research on topics including healthy homes and indoor environmental quality in social housing. Rehm actively engages in public commentary, critiquing housing Ponzi schemes fueled by loose lending and advocating for construction-led solutions to speculation.