The CMC is a unique opportunity for leadership to engage in two-way conversations on market trends, monetary policy, real-time issues and opportunities in the real estate market.

On November 5^th, the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta (FRBA) hosted the Capital Markets Council (CMC) for their final quarterly meeting of 2019. Members of the CMC seemed sanguine about the future of the capital and real estate markets through the end 2021. Lauren Terschan, a Federal Reserve Bank staffer, polled the audience about what the market outlook is by product type through the end of 2021.  The audience indicated confidence in the industrial and multifamily sectors, that they would continue to lead the way as the real estate market moves forward sailing into potential headwinds.

Anita Kramer, Senior Vice President in the Center for Capital Markets and Real Estate at ULI, presented on ULI’s Real Estate Economic Forecast, a semiannual survey of economists and analysts at the nation’s leading real estate organizations. She discussed the shifting focus of real estate in the coming decade, including the impact of aging baby boomers, the changing nature of work, and the increasing movement of millennials to the suburbs after housing formation – a term coined ‘hipsturbia’ recently highlighted in the 41^st Edition of the ULI Emerging Trends Report for the US and Canada for 2020. She also discussed which markets to watch and gave a general property types outlook.

Greg Winchester, Adjunct Professor and Head of Industry and Alumni Relations for the Master of Real Estate Development program at Auburn University, moderated an all-star panel entitled The Roaring or Whimpering 20s? Each panelist outlined the challenges and opportunities facing their real estate property types and the capital markets in the Atlanta and beyond over the next decade. George Banks, Partner at Revel; Adi Bhoopathy, Principal and Executive Vice President of Noble Investment Group; Melissa Fawley, Senior Vice President and Atlanta Regional Manager for Wells Fargo; John MacGregor, President of Trans Development Group; and Bob Voyles, Co-Founder and Principal, Seven Oaks Company shared their predictions for the multifamily housing, retail, hospitality, industrial, infrastructure, and office sectors for the coming decade, both regionally and nationally.

One headline for the industry expressed by one of the speakers was “it’s the best of times, it’s the worst of times” a theme that seemed to resonate throughout the meeting – cautious optimism for the future, but a lingering worry that a downturn is coming just around the corner. A theme that was clear from both the research and that panel is that those who are more cautious about the next few years are so due to external factors while those who are more optimistic are so because of what they have done inside their organization to position for success. The good news is that Atlanta’s advantages and business growth potential remains strong. Atlanta started the decade with a major economic recession that crippled the housing market and broader commercial real estate industry – and we are ending the decade with a much stronger and yet cautious economic outlook.