UC Berkeley’s Annual Real Estate Conference Features Topic-Driven Panels and an Economic Forecast by Keynote Ken Rosen

Has the market finally hit bottom? How will bank-held foreclosures affect prices? Buy, sell, resurrecting the lending industry – join the current discussion over the health and future of residential and commercial real estate at the 15th Annual Spring Real Estate Conference, presented by the Fisher Center for Real Estate & Urban Economics at the University of California, Berkeley’s Haas School of Business. A distinguished panel of speakers will examine the driving forces in today’s economy and their impact on real estate strategy going forward.

The conference, April 26, 2010, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the St. Francis Hotel in San Francisco, CA, features keynote speaker and Fisher Center Chair Ken Rosen. Rosen will deliver his semi-annual economic forecast, used by government and industry leaders.

The Haas School also welcomes keynote speakers Raphael Bostic, assistant secretary for policy development and research, US Department of Housing and Urban Development, and Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac chief economist. Bostic is a member of President Obama’s think tank on housing issues and has had a strategic impact upon the changing nature of housing policy under the current presidential administration. He will present information related to the latest changes, especially those related to new mortgage policies. At Freddie Mac, Nothaft is responsible for analyzing mortgage markets and integrating them into Freddie Mac’s strategic policy. He is a well known real estate economist who will present an overview and forecast of residential mortgage markets over the next year.

The entire schedule of speakers is available at: http://www.haas.berkeley.edu/realestate

Panel sessions include:
•The California Fiscal Crisis: What Needs to be Done?
•Keeping an Eye on the “Green” in Infrastructure and Building
•Is Distressed Commercial Real Estate the Next (Great?) Investment Opportunity?
•Has the Residential Market Stabilized?