At the Lusk Center’s Annual Lusk100 Retreat in May, Raphael Bostic, Director of the Casden Real Estate Economics Forecast, analyzed the Southern California economy and showed that the Los Angeles region weathered the recent economic slowdown better than almost every metropolitan area in the country. While there was a noticeable reduction in the pace of economic activity, the region did not experience the contractions in employment and output that other areas faced. Professor Bostic noted that the main reason for LA’s resilience was the transformation of the Los Angeles economy since the recession of the early 1990s into a highly diversified economy.
In his presentation, Bostic did note weakness in some sectors, most notably technology, while the real estate sectors have continued to grow at a healthy pace. Bostic sees the trend for real estate, especially single-family home purchase properties, continuing for the remainder of the year, with the overall regional economy growing at a moderate pace.
Forecast staff is working hard on its inaugural forecasts of real estate markets. Look for Forecast event announcements in the fall. In addition, the Forecast is now developing a website that will serve as a “one stop shop” for industry professionals, policy makers, and academicians interested in viewing and obtaining economic and demographic data on southern California. The website should be in operation in the coming weeks.