Briefly
Kevin Kane is the associate director of the Food Economics Division (FED) within the USDA’s Economic Research Service (ERS).
Background
Prior to joining the USDA in 2024, Kevin worked for 22 years at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). His entire career with HUD was in the Office of Economic Affairs within HUD’s Office of Policy Development and Research (PD&R). He began his career in 2002 in Philadelphia, as a field economist, studying housing markets in the Mid-Atlantic region of the country. In 2006, he became the chief housing market analyst, a position he would hold for the remainder of his HUD career. In this position, he had technical oversight of the HUD field economists in the Economic and Market Analysis Division (EMAD). EMAD’s primary mission is to monitor housing market conditions across the country and provide market intelligence to senior level HUD staff to assist with policy decisions and the successful implementation of HUD programs, most notably the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) mortgage insurance programs for rental housing. Kevin served as technical editor for EMAD’s many publications—including Comprehensive Housing Market Analyses, Housing Market Profiles, and Regional Narratives. Kevin was also responsible for maintaining and updating the techniques and methodologies used by the field economists in their analyses, assisting in training the staff on housing market analysis techniques, monitoring changes in housing market conditions, and researching data sources that could be beneficial in market analysis. He also provided regular updates to senior HUD staff on economic and housing market conditions around the country. From 2009 until 2023, he provided a quarterly update on U.S. housing market conditions, which were available on a webcast for the public, as part of PD&R’s Quarterly Briefings.
Education
Kevin earned a master of arts degree in economics from Washington University in Saint Louis, MO and a bachelor of science degree in economics and mathematics from Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, PA.
Selected Publications
Kevin’s housing market studies and presentations on the state of the U.S. housing markets can be found on HUD’s PD&R website (www.huduser.gov).