News Release: 12th Annual Radius Real Estate & Economic Forecast

“The last year has seen the current US economic expansion become the longest ever, even as the shrill predictions of its impending end become louder and more insistent. Yet in many ways the economy looks stronger today than it did a year ago. The housing markets are gathering momentum, consumer savings rates are up, interest rates are down and trade flows have been stable despite our dispute with China. In other words, yield curve, shmield curve.”

 – Christopher Thornberg, Ph.D., Keynote Speaker

Summary

• Radius Commercial Real Estate welcomes more than 400 business owners, investors, landlords, tenants and local government and community leaders at its annual economic and commercial real estate forecast Tuesday morning, November 19 at the Hilton Santa Barbara Beachfront Resort. The program begins promptly at 8:15 a.m.
• Featured speakers include renowned economist Christopher Thornberg, Ph.D., Beacon Economics (Los Angeles), and guest presenter Laura Bode, Executive Director, Santa Barbara Rental Property Association.
• Dr. Thornberg, widely regarded as one of the earliest and most vocal predictors of the sub-prime mortgage market collapse in 2007 and the global economic recession that ensued, will present his take on the U.S. and California economic climate including an assessment of key economic indicators on the South Coast.
• Bode will tackle the latest local and state regulatory developments impacting rental housing including the controversial AB 1482 rent control cap recently passed by the California Assembly.
• The program also features local commercial real estate experts from Radius (Paul Gamberdella, Principal; Gene Deering, Principal; Steve Golis, Principal) delivering market analysis and forecasts for the greater South Coast area.
• The event is co-presented by Reicker, Pfau, Pyle & McRoy, LLP; Bartlett, Pringle & Wolf, LLP; American Riviera Bank; HUB International Insurance Services; Meridian Group Real Estate Management; and Hilton Santa Barbara Beachfront Resort.
• Radius will present the Scholarship Foundation of Santa Barbara with a $10,000 donation as a part of its inaugural “Radius Gives Back” program.

About Keynote Speaker & Economist Christopher Thornberg, PhD, Beacon Economics

Christopher Thornberg is Founding Partner of Beacon Economics, LLC and widely considered to be one of the nation’s leading economists. He is also Director of the UC Riverside School of Business Center for Economic Forecasting and Development and an Adjunct Professor at the School. An expert in economic forecasting, regional economics, labor markets, economic policy, and real estate analysis, he was one of the earliest and most adamant predictors of the subprime mortgage market crash that began in 2007, and of the global economic recession that followed. Since 2006, he has served on the advisory board of Wall Street hedge fund, Paulson & Co. Inc.  In 2015, he was named to California State Treasurer John Chiang’s Council of Economic Advisors, the body that advises the Treasurer on emerging strengths and vulnerabilities within the state’s economy. From 2008 to 2012, he served as economic advisor to the California State Controller’s Office, and as Chair of (then) State Controller John Chiang’s Council of Economic Advisors.

Dr. Thornberg regularly presents to leading business, government, and nonprofit organizations across the globe including Chevron, The New Yorker, City National Bank, REOMAC, the California State Association of Counties, Colliers International, State Farm Insurance, the City of Los Angeles, and the California and Nevada Credit Union League, among many others. He has testified before the U.S. Congress House Committee on Financial Services on municipal debt issues, and before the California State Assembly Committee on Revenue and Taxation regarding rule changes related to Proposition 13.

Dr. Thornberg has been involved in conducting research and developing analytic products for international clients that explore the trade and economic connections between the United States and the world. This has included analysis and speaking presentations regarding the impact that U.S. trading partners have on U.S. global competitiveness for the Centre for Investor Education in Melbourne Australia, the state of U.S. and U.K. housing markets for the British Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong, and U.S. and international economic outlooks and their effect on global trade activity for the African Cashew Alliance in Cotonou, Benin. He has also conducted a number of special studies measuring the effect of important events on the economy including the NAFTA treaty, the California electricity crisis, port security, California’s water transfer programs, and the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

A well-known media commentator, Dr. Thornberg has appeared on CNN and NPR and is regularly quoted in major national dailies including the Wall Street Journal and New York Times. Originally from upstate New York, Dr. Thornberg holds a PhD in Business Economics from The Anderson School at UCLA, and a B.S. degree in Business Administration from the State University of New York at Buffalo.

About Guest Speaker Laura Bode, Executive Director, Santa Barbara Rental Property Association

Laura Bode is the Executive Director of the Santa Barbara Rental Property Association, which represents approximately 1,000 rental property owners and 20,000 rental units in Central California.

Previously, Bode was the Chief Financial Officer of SSET, a publicly traded company. She subsequently founded a non-profit, iLIVE2LEAD, and provided leadership training on 5 continents to people from over 60 countries. Clients included the Clinton Global Initiative, Harvard University, Georgetown University, Google, United Bank Suisse, and the governments of the United States, China and Mexico. In addition, she founded and chaired the “Women Ambassadors’ Roundtable,” a policy forum for the women ambassadors to the U.S.

Radius Commercial Real Estate is a full service commercial brokerage with headquarters in Santa Barbara. The company was founded in 2002 and employs 22 agents representing tenants, landlords and investors in the Santa Barbara, Ventura and San Luis Obispo County markets.