Compass Names Altos Research Founder As First-Ever Chief Economist

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Altos Research founder Mike Simonsen has started his next chapter as NYC-based brokerage Compass’s first-ever chief economist. At Compass, Simonsen will heighten the brokerage’s market analysis and reports and provide data-driven content and real-time market insights for agents and consumers.

Robert Reffkin

“Mike is the best in the business at turning complex housing data into a clear advantage for agents,” Compass founder and CEO Robert Reffkin said in a written statement. “Hiring him is a direct investment in our strategy to provide world-class market intelligence, empowering every Compass agent to serve their clients as the most informed, trusted advisor in their market and expand their business.”

Simonsen has 35 years of experience in real estate and technology, with the lion’s share of that time dedicated to providing invaluable real-time market insights for agents, brokerages and industry leaders through Altos Research.

HousingWire publisher, HW Media, purchased Altos in 2022, after which Simonsen transitioned from CEO to president. At HW Media, Simonsen and his team expanded their reach to include journalistic work, with Altos analysts and HW Media journalists partnering to create timely real estate content.

Simonsen stepped down from Altos in May and immediately received a call from Reffkin about joining Compass.

“When Robert proposed that I join Compass, I immediately saw the opportunity to bring the deep market understanding I had cultivated at Altos to a much larger audience,” he said in posts on LinkedIn and X, the site formerly known as Twitter. “For two decades, I’ve made it my professional mission to help people understand what’s happening right now in the housing economy. This, in many ways, would be the next step in fulfilling that mission.”

The newly minted Compass chief economist said he’s excited to keep helping agents “cut through the noise of the real estate market” as Compass gives him “an unparalleled opportunity to take that to the next level.”

“I’m excited to combine my analysis with the real-time, boots-on-the-ground insights from Compass’s tens of thousands of agents to create the most powerful and practical market intelligence in the industry,” he said. “It’s about giving agents the insights to serve as trusted advisors and deliver the best outcomes for their clients.”

Email Marian McPherson