Is a double-dip recession still lurking on the horizon? Has the housing market really stabilized? When will capital start flowing? Is further fiscal stimulus needed?
Those are a few of the burning questions that Haas School economist Ken Rosen, chairman of the Fisher Center for Real Estate and Urban Economics, will address in his annual forecast at the 33rd Annual Real Estate and Economics Symposium, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Nov. 22 at the Marriott Marquis Hotel, San Francisco.
“We’ve had a bounce from the bottom, but we still have high unemployment,” says Rosen, whose forecast has become the centerpiece of the influential symposium. “We’ve got a massive deficit and the easiest money in history. I’ll be talking about recovery, and whether this is the proper way to get to a strong recovery.”
The gathering has become a must-attend event for industry leaders, attracting about 500 experts in real estate, finance, government and policy, and law every November. This year it includes an examination of the effects of the Dodd-Frank financial reform package; detailed looks at lending, residential housing, and senior housing; and a keynote address by Haas Professor Severin Borenstein on the economics of energy efficiency.
“The symposium’s timing is right because it sums up the year and it looks forward, giving people some focus as they round out the year,” says Dick Wollack, co-founder of the event, a former Haas real estate lecturer, and currently principal managing director of vineyard developer Premier Pacific Vineyards. “We get a broad section of people, which makes it influential among the real estate industry, public policy makers, and private decision makers.”
This year’s event also will come on the heels of the mid-term elections, which could have a profound effect on the market, says symposium co-chair Robert Edelstein, the Maurice Mann Chair in Real Estate and co-chair of the Fisher Center. Public policy, Edelstein says, will be a lively topic.
“It’s a dangerous time, and the imbroglio is not just economic, it’s political,” says Edelstein. “I believe if we don’t have further stimulus, we are headed toward a double-dip.”
The symposium is applying for eight units of continuing education credits from the Office of Real Estate Appraisers (OREA) and the Department of Real Estate (DRE). It is also approved for one unit of re-certification credit from the Society of Industrial and Office Realtors (SIOR). MCLE credit will also be available for this conference.
Discounted registration is available through Oct. 31. Visit the symposium website for the full agenda and registration details.