Conference examines real estate trends

Most Americans partially blame some form of the media for the current financial crisis, according to statistics provided by Paul Bishop, the keynote speaker at the 2009 Real Estate Trends Conference on Wednesday in Shreveport.
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Bishop, the managing director of real estate research for the National Association of Realtors, gave an overview of the national economy and highlighted certain facets of the local economy.

The conference, presented by the commercial investment division of the Northwest Louisiana Association of Realtors, lasted all morning and included presentations on trends in residential, retail, industrial and office real estate from local professionals.

A luncheon featured guest speaker Marie Boucher, field office manager for the Shreveport district office of the Louisiana Office of Financial Institutions.

"Who do Americans blame for this level of pessimism?" Bishop said. "Basically it's one form of the media or the next. They don't say the media caused the financial collapse."

About 66 percent of people blame advertisers, 59 percent blame the print media, and 56 percent blame other forms of media, including the Internet, Bishop added.

He said people feel like the media helped perpetuate an attitude of overspending.

"Where did we go wrong? Why did we go wrong?" Bishop said. "Well, you'll notice no one blames themselves here "» I'd be very concerned if I was in the newspaper business."

Bishop then turned his focus to the local economy and real estate industry.

He said northwest Louisiana should expect slower net absorption in office and industrial retail.

The financial markets must loosen up before new construction takes place, he added.

"As we've seen earlier, the securities markets are at a standstill," Bishop said. "Lower rent growth is probably likely."

He said potential areas for strength in the local economy include the energy sector, health, government and education industries and expansion at Barksdale Air Force Base. The area's weaknesses lie in the automobile sector and related industries and exports.

Originally published at www.shreveporttimes.com.