Ivy Zelman

Ivy Zelman is a co-founder and executive vice president at Zelman, a Walker & Dunlop Company | Research and based in Cleveland, Ohio. In this role, she leads the firm’s research and securities platform and oversees research covering the housing and housing-related industries. She has more than 30 years of experience in housing research and analysis. In 2007, she co-founded Zelman & Associates, which provided research and analysis across the housing spectrum and was acquired by Walker & Dunlop in 2021. Her research approach combines thematic analysis with proprietary survey data to deliver differentiated insights across the housing industry.
 
Prior to her current role, Zelman co-founded and served as executive vice president of research and securities at Zelman & Associates, where she built the firm's nationally recognized housing research platform. Earlier in her career, she held senior housing research leadership roles on Wall Street, where she became recognized for identifying major housing market inflection points, including calling the market peak in 2005 and the market bottom in 2012.
 
Zelman earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting from George Mason University. She has received numerous industry recognitions, including 11 Institutional Investor America Research Team first-place rankings, recognition among Hanley Wood’s Top 50 Most Influential People in Housing, Forbes 50 over 50 list and inclusion in Barron’s 100 Most Influential Women in U.S. Finance for 3 consecutive years. Ms. Zelman has participated in community and educational programs, including advisory roles with the Laurel School, BBYO, and Jewish Women in Action Cleveland. Also, she is an adjunct professor at Case Western Reserve University at the Weatherhead School of Management. In 2021, she published her memoir, Gimme Shelter: Hard Calls + Soft Skills From A Wall Street Trailblazer.