Riding out the real estate storm

COEUR d'ALENE - Last year, the experts predicted a sluggish real estate world in 2010.

They were right.

So what's in store for 2011?

"It's cautious optimism," said Tony Berns, Lake City Development Corp. director. "It's going to be slow on the commercial side once again ... But it's getting better."

The Urban Land Institute is hosting a real estate trend and forecast conference from 7:30 to 10 a.m. Wednesday at the Parkside Center for the second year in a row. The mission of the meeting is to identify how the national economic and real estate trends will play out over the next year, and what property owners, investors or anybody else can expect for economic trends regionally.

Guest Speaker Dean Schwanke, senior vice president and director for ULI center for capital markets, will lead the discussion on next year's emerging trends, while a panel of experts will discuss how those trends could play out in the Inland Northwest.

The panelists are Randy Barcus, chief economist for Avista Corp.; John Beutler of Century 21 Beutler and Associates; Wade Pannell, development director for Potlatch Corporation; and John Stone, of John Stone Development.

Also featured will be presentation on the Emerging Trends in Real Estate 2011 report - a publication from PricewaterhouseCoopers and ULI. The publication has a 32-year history and is one the most highly-regarded and widely-read forecast reports in the real estate industry.