Thursday, November 20, 2008                           The Islander News                                                 Page 9

Salas returns from conference upbeat about the state of real estate

    Even though the housing market is reeling and the economy remains dismal, real estate professional James Salas is feeling pretty upbeat.
    That’s because Salas, president of E Realty International, was among the 22,000 real estate agents who attended the national Association of realtors (NAR) conference and Expo held in Orlando November 7-10.
    The conference, which pushed a message of optimism and hope for the real estate industry, featured more than 200 conference sessions and 500 expo exhibitors, which showcased the latest real estate products and innovations across various fields, including technology, data communications and financial programs and services.
     “The theme of the conference was ‘choose passion over fear, ” said Salas. “The message to the industry was to concentrate on working, rather than sweating over the economy.”
    Salas said the conference underscored the need for real estate industry professionals “to role up their sleeves” in the midst of the current economic slump.     “The bottom line is that the economy’s fixed if the housing market’s fixed. It’s our job: we’re on the front line,” said Salas, noting the real estate industry employs countless people, ranging from property appraisers to remodeling contractors.

    Revitalizing the housing market is one of the keys to fixing the economy, said Salas. To illustrate his point, he quoted Lawrence Yun, the chief economist for NAR: “The depth of the current recession depends on how soon the housing market recovers and that depends on when prices stabilize and inventories tighten. Housing demand doesn’t necessarily follow the economy. Housing demand is driven more by affordability in mortgage rates than economic performance.”
    During the conference, seven time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong spoke about surviving testicular cancer and overcoming the odds to achieve something remarkable.
    “His speech was very uplifting. It showed that all this doomsday talk surrounding the housing challenge is actually a great opportunity to turn this thing around, ” said Salas.