Economic Expectations

What will the local, state, and national housing markets look like? What factors will influence buyer demand and home prices in the coming year? How can you prepare for the changes in the housing market?

Join us for our 13th Annual Economic Expectations Program as our distinguished speakers will answer these questions and more as they forecast the 2024 housing market. These experts will offer insights regarding buyer demand, home values, housing starts, mortgage rates, unemployment, current demographics, and more. This program is a great way to help you start to form your 2024 business plan, and offers 2 CE Credits: National Economic Trends and the Real Estate Professional - RE34RC03

Speakers:

Dr. Lawrence Yun, Chief Economist, National Association of REALTORS®

Lawrence Yun is Chief Economist and oversees the Research group at the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®. He supervises and is responsible for a wide range of research activity for the association including NAR's Existing Home Sales statistics, Affordability Index, and Home Buyers and Sellers Profile Report. He regularly provides commentary on real estate market trends for its 1.4 million REALTORS®.

Dr. Yun creates NAR's forecasts and participates in many economic forecasting panels, among them the Blue Chip Council and the Wall Street Journal Forecasting Survey. He also participates in the Industrial Economists Discussion Group at the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University. He appears regularly on financial news outlets, is a frequent speaker at real estate conferences throughout the United States, and has testified before Congress. Dr. Yun has also appeared as a guest on CSPAN's Washington Journal.

Dr. Yun received his undergraduate degree from Purdue University and earned his Ph.D. from the University of Maryland at College Park.

Dr. Mark Melnik, Director, Economic & Public Policy Research, UMass Donahue Institute

Dr. Melnik specializes in demographic, socio-economic, and labor market issues and leads a 20-person team working on a variety of economic and public policy research projects informing clients in government, private industry, and the non-profit sectors. In his time at the Institute, Dr. Melnik has served as the principal-in-charge on projects with such clients as the Secretary of the Commonwealth, the Massachusetts Gaming Commission, the Boston Foundation, the City of Boston, the City of Cambridge, MassDOT, the New England Foundation for the Arts, MassEcon, MassDevelopment, the Boston Private Industry Council, the Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development, the Massachusetts Housing Partnership, and the MetroSouth Chamber of Commerce. In addition, Dr. Melnik serves as the Senior Managing Editor of MassBenchmarks, the journal of the Massachusetts economy published by the Institute in cooperation with the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.

Before joining the Institute, Dr. Melnik worked as Deputy Director for Research at the Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA) where he led research teams on demographic and economic research studies as well as analyses used for public policy advisement and decision making with the BRA and the City of Boston. Before joining the BRA, Dr. Melnik worked as a research associate at the Dukakis Center for Urban and Regional Policy at Northeastern University. As a leading expert in demographic and socioeconomic issues in the Commonwealth, Dr. Melnik is quoted extensively in the media and was appointed to Governor Charlie Baker’s Future of Transportation Commission and the Massachusetts Economic Development Council Board of Directors.

He holds a doctorate in sociology from Northeastern University. His dissertation explored skill and credential mismatches in the greater Boston labor market. He received his Master of Arts from Northeastern University and his Bachelor of Arts from Youngstown State University, both in sociology.

Ed Augustus, Massachusetts Secretary of Housing and Livable Communities

Secretary Ed Augustus leads the newly created Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities. The office is dedicated to housing and driving solutions to create more homes and lower costs. It is focused on the urgent need to build places to live that are affordable and closer to public transit – giving residents access to jobs, medical care, groceries, and other essential services.

Prior to joining the Healey Administration, Secretary Augustus served as City Manager of Worcester, functioning as the Chief Administrative and Executive Officer of the Gateway City of more than 200,000 people.

Notably, as City Manager, Augusts spearheaded the $240 Million Landmark Redevelopment of Worcester’s Canal District, including leading the complex negotiation to relocate the Boston Red Sox AAA-Affiliate (now the Woo Sox) to the City and construction of the multi-use Polar Park Stadium – where we will see you all on October 5th for NAR’s Riding with the Brand event.

Prior to joining the City of Worcester, Secretary Augustus served as Director of Government & Community Relations for the College of Holy Cross, State Senator for the 2nd Worcester District, Chief of Staff for Congressman Jim McGovern, and Chief of Staff to the Assistant Secretary for Intergovernmental and Interagency Affairs at the U.S. Department of Education under President Clinton’s administration.

Registration:

GBAR Members: $30.00 | Non-Members: $50.00

***Due to the visitor policy at the Federal Reserve Bank you must pre-register for this event.  No walk-ins will be allowed to enter the building, no exceptions. Registration will close on October 18, 2023, one week prior to the event. You must bring a valid, government issued ID. We appreciate your cooperation. ***