| | |  Puerto Vallarta Real Estate | May 2009 
National Association of Realtors Set Record
 John K. Glaab - settlement-co.com
| | John Glaab, CIPS of AMPI La Paz (L), with Dr. Lawrence Yun, Chief Economist, NAR. | |
In today's real estate world, "record" has several frequently used connotations. Among these are record low sales, record low interest rates and record low housing starts.
At the National Association of Realtors (NAR) Mid Year Meetings and Trade Show, earlier this month in Washington, D.C. the word record referred to record attendance. Over 8,000 members were at the meetings. This is a larger than normal number, for the mid year meetings and trade show. They came to network, exchange ideas and to discuss the global economy.
A special feature at this year's meeting was Real Estate Summit, Advancing the U.S. Economy. In the words of NAR President, Charles McMillan, "Realtors are on the front lines of the economic crisis. We understand better than anyone else the vital role that real estate plays in our communities and our national economy ...NAR serves as the leading voice on public policy issues impacting our members and the consumers we serve. Thanks in large part to our advocacy efforts, the Obama Administration and Congress have taken important steps to stabilize the housing market and stimulate the economy. We are already seeing positive effects on the first-time home buyer tax credit and the increase in mortgage loan limits contained in the American Investment and Recovery Act. At the same time, NAR continues to work closely with the Obama Administration to make the Housing Affordability and Stability Plan a success."
He went on to say, "We have convened this Real Estate Summit to help our nation's policy makers take the next important steps toward our economic recovery. Specifically we have brought together leaders from the industry, government and academics to present a variety of perspectives on ways we can we can resolve the remaining problems in the real estate market, particularly related to housing."
The Real Estate Summit had morning and afternoon sessions. The morning session started with a Legislative and Political Forum featuring U.S. Congressman Harold Ford and Political Commentator Patrick Buchanan. Dr. Robert Reich Former U.S. Secretary of Labor delivered a keynote address. A panel discussion brought together some of the most influential and leading edge experts in the fields of housing, finance, government, academia and the media field. It was moderated by Ron Inman CNBC analyst.
The afternoon session was titled Financing Real Estate for Tomorrow. Dr. Alan Greenspan, Former Chairman Federal Reserve Board, was a keynote speaker. Jane Bryant Quinn Newsweek Contributing Editor moderated a sixteen member panel. One of the panelists Phil Bracken, Executive President, Wells Fargo Home Mortgage took considerable heat on loan practices, during a lively Question and Answer period. Sheila Blair, Chair of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, delivered the closing address
The findings of the Summit were presented to Members of Congress during Realtors visits to Capital Hill throughout the week. The Realtors agenda also includes measures to protect commercial real estate markets and ensure the availability of affordable healthcare to the self-employed and small business.
Economic Issues and Commercial Business Trends: Dr. Lawrence Yun, Chief Economist, NAR and Robert Davis Executive V.P. American Bankers Association, dazzled the audience with charts and graphs. Dr. Yun commented that one great problem was that economic models that did not work have been used. The commercial market has lagged the residential one. Lawrence Yun traced the market from 1991 to 2009. He said, "it is not a bad today as in 1990, because we have not over built. Using a baseball analogy to describe where we were, he said," We are only in the second or third inning."
Invitations were sent out to three different banks to address the meeting. All declined, (someone commented, "The banks are not making public appearances these days.") so Robert Davis represented the banking industry. He proved do be a knowledgeable and some times humorous speaker.
Other highlights during the week included a meeting of NAR's International Operations Committee, the Certified International Property Specialist (CIPS) breakfast and International Night Out.
The CIPS breakfast is always of interest to me. At the breakfast, the new CIPS Designees receive their PINS and certificates. World wide, there are nearly 2,000 of us.
International Night Out has traditionally been a Potomac cruise. This year, the event was held at the venerable 1930’s art deco Omni Shoreham hotel. It has been the venue for entertaining Presidents, world leaders and used for inauguration balls.
During the evening, I enjoyed speaking with Tong Van Nga, Vice President of the Vietnam Real Estate Association and Dr. Do Thi Loan, Secretary General of the Ho Chi Minh City Real Estate Association. An acquaintance from Belize introduced me to Ambassador Nestor Mendez and his wife.
NAR will hold its annual conference in San Diego for the first time, this year. Dates are November 11th-16th.
 John Glaab has been a member of NAR's International Section for over a decade. He has earned the Certified International Property Specialist designation and is a founding member of AMPI Los Cabos. He spends half the year in La Paz, Baja California Sur and the other half in Uruapan, Michoacan. For further information, contact John at John.Glaab(at)settlement-co.com. |
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