Nidal Ibrahim Delores Conway, director of the Casden Forecast for the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate, sounds more optimistic for 2006, but there is a note of caution underlying her assessment. “We will still see steady, moderate growth,” she says. “The trade sector is still very strong and with lots of jobs in distribution, especially in the inland Empire, the California economy is still fairly diversified and so it’s following the national economy. Our gross domestic product growth is fairly robust compared to other areas of the country and the employment picture is picking up. We’re adding jobs. We’re still in a recovery from the 2001 recession and the Southern California economy is on track."
