Tuesday, March 15th, 2011
The “Main” Membership Meeting happens on the first Tuesday of the month at 9:00 a.m. in the Mack Powell Auditorium. Terrific speakers bringing information that you need, Starbucks coffee, Ettore’s pasteries all free.
If you missed Carole Rodoni’s economic forecast at the February Meeting, you missed a dynamic and highly entertaining presentation. Ms. Rodoni, who has headed several major real estate firms, peppers her economics with biting humor
Rodoni prefaced her 2011 forecast with a brief overview of what brought us to this economy. Following the dot.com bust in the early 2000s the federal government wanted to stimulate the economy by having homeownership grow from 56 to 70 percent. As a result, the market grew from five to seven million homes sold annually – one half of those to investors.
Homes were appreciating 50 to 100 percent a year as compared with the normal seven percent average appreciation. The sellers’ market, which usually lasts about 18 months, lasted for five years and the deepest downturn in real estate history resulted.
Subprime loans in the marketplace moved from 7 to 25 percent and then were bundled and sold abroad. For example, New Century which was publicly traded on the NYSE had a $50 billion portfolio of subprime loans. At the same time, one in four Countrywide loans was subprime.
Rodoni reported that we are now technically out of the great recession with a 2.5% growth rate in 2010. However, an economy the size of the U.S. needs to expand by five to six percent annually to show signs of strong recovery.
Continue reading: Carole Rodoni Gives Dynamic Presentation on the Economy
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