Skip to main content
OCC Flag

An official website of the United States government

Zhong Yi Tong

Senior Financial Economist

Economic and Banking Condition Division

Dr. Zhong Yi Tong is a senior financial economist in the Economic and Policy Analysis Department at the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC). Prior to joining the OCC in 2011, he served as a senior market economist at the Office of Thrift Supervision, Chief Economist at Republic Mortgage Insurance Co., Director of Housing Economics & Finance and Chairman of the Research Review Committee at the Fannie Mae Foundation, and a faculty member of East China Normal University. He also served as an associate editor of the Journal of Housing Research, associate editor of Housing Policy Debate, and a member of the Board of Directors at American Real Estate Society.

Dr. Tong has worked on a broad range of areas, including housing market dynamics, home price, mobility, mortgage finance, mortgage insurance, mortgage default and credit loss, home equity loans and lines of credit, GSE reform and capital rules, public policies related to housing and mortgage finance, policy impact assessment techniques, national bank stress test, and microfinance. He is one of the two co-editors of the book titled Replicating Microfinance in the United States (published by Woodrow Wilson Center Press in 2002 and distributed worldwide by Johns Hopkins University Press). His researches not only appeared in peer-reviewed journals and government reports but also received media attention. His 2000 study on home price segmentation by property type was featured in multiple newspapers and magazines including a front-page article in the Real Estate section of the Washington Post. After winning two national awards, his 2003 study on the impact of Washington DC’s first-time homebuyer tax credit was released as a Fannie Mae Foundation Special Report in 2005, featured in the Washington Post, and quoted as the only creditable evidence in the congressional testimonies in 2008 in support of creating the national first-time homebuyer tax credit program that helped rescue a collapsed housing market during the Great Recession in the U.S.

Dr. Tong holds a Ph.D. in Policy Studies from the University of Maryland at College Park, specializing in real estate economics and public finance; a Master of Public Policy from the University of Northern Iowa, specializing in quantitative techniques and housing policy; and a Bachelor of Law from East China Normal University in Shanghai.

  1. Tong, Zhong Yi. 2022. “The Pandemic-Fueled Preference for Single-Family Homes May Endure.” On Point - Focused Analyses of Current Economic and Banking Issue (published by OCC).
  2. Tong, Zhong Yi. 2021. “The Impact of the State and Local Tax (SALT) Deduction Cap on U.S. Home Prices.” OCC Working Paper Series.
  3. Caplin, Andrew, James H. Carr, Frederick Pollock and Zhong Yi Tong, with Kheng Mei Tan and Trivikraman Thampy. 2007. “Shared Equity Mortgages, Housing Affordability and Homeownership.” Housing Policy Debate 18(1). Also released as a Fannie Mae Foundation Special Report in April 2007. Note: This study was featured in the Business Week and major trade publications including Realtor and Builder magazines.
  4. Tong, Zhong Yi. 2005. Washington, D.C.’s First-Time Homebuyer Tax Credit: an Assessment of the Program. Fannie Mae Foundation Special Report. Washington, DC: Fannie Mae Foundation. Note: The findings of this report were featured in a front-page article in the Metro section of Washington Post on March 25, 2005, reported in several major TV and radio stations on March 26, and recommended in numerous policy and national trade publications and websites. They were also quoted as the only creditable evidence in the congressional testimony on June 5, 2008 for hearings on first-time homebuyer tax credit provision as part of the “Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008.”
  5. Tong, Zhong Yi. 2004. Homeownership Affordability in Urban America: Past and Future. Fannie Mae Foundation Special Report. Washington, DC: Fannie Mae Foundation. Note: This report was initially quoted in a USA Today article in Jan. 2004 and then received enormous media attention across the country. It was viewed and downloaded thousands of times at www.KnowledgePlex.org in 2004 alone and ranked as the #2 most popular document of the year. It was recommended as a critical reading by major trade associations and agencies (such as the Federal Reserve and National Association of Homebuilders) and cited in numerous high-profile publications.
  6. Carr, James H. and Zhong Yi Tong. 2002. Eds. Replicating Microfinance in the United States. Washington, DC: Woodrow Wilson Center Press.  (Worldwide distributor: The Johns Hopkins University Press).
  7. Tong, Zhong Yi and John Glascock. 2000. “Price Dynamics of Owner-occupied Housing in Selected Markets of the Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan Area: Does Structure Type Matter?”  Journal of Housing Research. 11(1). Note: This paper was featured in Baltimore SUN (11/19/2000), REALTOR® Magazine (11/22/2000), The Real Estate Professional (2/16/2001), and a front-page article in the Real Estate section of Washington Post on 02/24/2001.
  8. Tong, Zhong Yi and R. Allen Hays. 1996. "The Transformation of the Urban Housing System in China." Urban Affairs Review 31(5): 625-658.
  9. Tong, Zhong Yi. 1994. "Shanghai - Rising Again as the Largest Economic Center in Asia?"  International Third World Studies Journal and Review 5 (1): 65-76.

  1. Tong, Zhong Yi. 2015. “The End-of-Draw: The HELOC Payment Shock and Its Impact on Performance.”  Presented at American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association national conference in Washington, DC, May 2015, and American Real Estate Society annual conference in Fort Myers, FL, April 2015.
  2. Tong, Zhong Yi. 2006. “The Great Affordability Divide: Who Are Buying Homes in Urban America?” Presented at American Real Estate Society Annual Conference in Key West, FL, April 2006.
  3. Chen, Jian and Zhong Yi Tong. 2006. “Housing Affordability in Urban America: Why Was It Gloomier than We Thought?” Presented at American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association International Conference in Vancouver, Canada, May 2006 and at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development in Oct. 2006.
  4. Tong, Zhong Yi, Amy S. Bogdon and Michelle Mengel. December 2003. The Low Income Housing Tax Credit. Fannie Mae Foundation White Paper. Washington, DC: Fannie Mae Foundation.
  5. Glascock, John and Zhong Yi Tong.  2000. “Price Dynamics of Owner-occupied Housing across Selected Metropolitan Areas: Structure Type and Market Segmentation.” Fannie Mae Foundation Working Paper. Presented at the American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association Annual Meetings in Boston, January 2000.
  6. Bogdon, Amy S. and Zhong Yi Tong. 1999. “Minority and Low-Income Neighborhoods Benefit Most from Mortgage Lending Increases.” Housing Facts & Findings. 1(2): 12-15.
  7. Can, Ayse, Amy Bogdon and Zhong Yi Tong. 1999. “Spatial Equity in Mortgage Lending: A Closer Look at HMDA Data.” Fannie Mae Foundation Working Paper. Presented at the American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association Annual Meetings in New York, Jan. 3-5, 1999.