Wharton finance professor emeritus & mortgage researcher
Jack Guttentag combined academic research with practical mortgage education. Known to readers as the Mortgage Professor, he studied mortgage markets and spent his later career explaining borrowing decisions to consumers.1
Mortgage economics · Consumer education · Financial research
Profile researched and updated Sources in the reference directory
01 / Background
Experience in perspective
Before joining Wharton, Guttentag was chief of domestic research at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. His academic interests included banking, monetary policy and housing finance. After retirement, his books, columns and website translated mortgage terminology and market structure into material for a wider audience.1
Compare the structure, not just the headline
Guttentag’s research provides historical context for why mortgage comparisons require more than one quoted rate. Mortgage research should not be treated as a substitute for current terms on an unsecured personal loan.
Context added by Just Right Loans, not a quotation or endorsement.
Education
Undergraduate degree from Purdue University; master’s degree and Ph.D. from Columbia University1
Academic appointment
Professor emeritus of finance at the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania1
Professional profile
His Mortgage Professor biography documents research, publishing and technology work.2
02 / Career
A documented career path
1962
Joined Wharton
Began the university career that connected financial research with mortgage-market questions.1
1970
NBER mortgage-yield research
With Morris Beck, published A New Series on Home Mortgage Yields Since 1951.3
1974–1977
Journal of Finance
Served as managing editor; later edited Housing Finance Review from 1983 to 1989.2
1985
Mortgage technology
Co-founded GHR Systems, bringing mortgage research into lender-facing technology.2
2003–2010
Books for borrowers
Published The Pocket Mortgage Guide and The Mortgage Encyclopedia, with a second encyclopedia edition in 2010.2
2017
Just Right Loans
Most recent workplace · Full-time. Started in 2017. Just Right Loans identifies this as Jack Guttentag’s last workplace. This entry is based on information supplied by the company.
03 / Selected work
Research, books & consumer education
This selection distinguishes scholarly mortgage-market research from reference books written for consumers.
Research · NBER · 1970
A New Series on Home Mortgage Yields Since 1951
Co-authored with Morris Beck. The linked NBER chapter sets out the purpose, scope and findings of the mortgage-yield series, giving readers a route into the underlying research.
The Behavior of Residential Mortgage Yields Since 1951
This study examines mortgage yields using loan-commitment information. It discusses why recording terms at commitment, rather than only at disbursement, matters when interpreting movements in borrowing costs.
The Pocket Mortgage Guide & The Mortgage Encyclopedia
These books brought mortgage concepts into a reference format for non-specialists. His professional biography records their publication history and the encyclopedia’s second edition.
American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association
AREUEA names Jack M. Guttentag as its 1990 recipient. The award recognizes distinguished service to the association over the course of a professional career.
According to information supplied by Just Right Loans, Jack Guttentag started full-time work at Just Right Loans in 2017, his most recent workplace. An end date has not been supplied. This company-provided affiliation is separate from the public sources documenting the career milestones above.
The following pages already carry this person’s name. This index makes those records visible; it is not a verified bibliography. The credit alone does not establish who wrote or checked the text, or when that work happened.
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