The state of the housing market

"There are signs that the two-year drop in Wisconsin home prices had bottomed out, at least in some regions of the state."

That was one of the takeaways from yesterday's Newsmakers interview on the WisconsinEye Network with Stephen Malpezzi, professor with Wisconsin's Real Estate Program and recognized expert on housing and urban development, and Bill Malkasian, president of the Wisconsin Realtors Association. They also discussed current housing inventory and the advantages offered by continued low interest rates to potential home buyers. Visit WisEye.org to watch video of the interview.

Malpezzi also joined a panel last Thursday on KUOW Puget Sound Public Radio to discuss the role of government in the housing market. He, along with European real estate expert Dr. Joaquin Jorge Piserra Ribera and Vancouver Sun Editor Fiona Anderson, tackled questions including: Should the United States change the way it finances real estate? How do other countries do it? Would changing the government's role in the housing market affect the way we think about houses? Visit KUOW.org to listen to audio of the broadcast.

The housing market and the regional economic outlook will be central topics at the Graaskamp Center's annual June conference.

The 2011 Wisconsin Real Estate and Economic Outlook Conference on June 9th in Madison will feature keynote presentations from Elizabeth Warren, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and Governor Scott Walker.

This conference will explore how the new regulatory landscape will affect the size and scope of activity in the real estate and financial services industries. How will the new Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection affect how real estate and finance professionals do transactions? How will new rules support buyers and sellers, lenders and borrowers? How will the proposed replacement of Fannie and Freddie affect the cost of and access to mortgage credit, and what might the secondary mortgage market of the future look like? Join this important conversation. Click to view the agenda and to register.