Realtor.com has been without a chief economist since Jonathan Smoke left the company in April to become the chief economist for Cox Automotive, an auto industry powerhouse that includes the brands, Autotrader, Dealer.com, Dealertrack, Kelley Blue Book, Manheim, NextGear Capital, vAuto, Xtime, and others.

But now, the real estate site has found a replacement, one that keeps things in the Realtor family, so to speak.

Realtor.com announced Tuesday that it named Danielle Hale as its new chief economist.

Hale joins Realtor.com from the National Association of Realtors, where she spent nearly a decade as an economist and policy researcher. While at NAR, Hale served as managing director of housing research.

In that role, Hale oversaw the production of housing market data, including NAR’s monthly pending and existing home sales indices and quarterly home price reports.

Hale previously served as NAR’s manager of tax policy research, leading research projects on topics including how federal, state and local policies impact the real estate market.

“Danielle possesses a rare talent for applying rigorous statistical analysis in all her work along with the ability to communicate the results to everyday people,” Lawrence Yun, chief economist for NAR, said. “She will be a valuable asset to realtor.com and for consumers.”

Before joining NAR as an economist in 2008, Hale spent three years at the American Enterprise Institute, producing research and managing the company’s executive office communications.

As chief economist at Realtor.com, Hale will be responsible for “developing and translating real estate trend data into consumer and industry insights,” the site said in a release.

“We are incredibly proud to welcome Danielle to the realtor.com family,” said Nate Johnson, chief marketing officer for realtor.com. “Danielle's in-depth housing market knowledge and research experience will help us hone and grow our research capabilities so we can leverage realtor.com’s vast housing database to provide even more insights to homebuyers, sellers and dreamers, and professionals.”

Of her new role, Hale said she is looking forward to the opportunity.

“Realtor.com’s economics and research operation has emerged as a leading resource for valuable, actionable, and reliable housing market information,” Hale said. “I look forward to working with the tremendously talented team to provide consumers and industry professionals with the tools and expertise they need to navigate the real estate world during this period of unprecedented competition and demand.”