Downtown Lions Hear Upbeat Economic News

Downtown — Amid the barrage of bad news about our economy, the San Diego Downtown
 Lions Club heard surprisingly good news at their first meeting of 2009.
 Alan Nevin of Market Pointe Realty Advisors spoke at the clubs 4th and
 Market Street Community Room about 2009 with a much more positive outlook than has been apparent in the media. He noted that the only sure analysis of 2009
 will occur on December 31st. With that hedge, Nevin went ahead with
 some remarkable views:
 — San Diego, in other than the construction industry, is gaining jobs.
 — The San Diego housing market bottomed three to four months ago, and there
 maybe a shortage of available housing within three years.
 — The recession will end as soon as new homes are built again.

While some states, like Michigan, Ohio, and Pennsylvania, will not come
 back from this recession, states like California will rebound. Population growth in the state as a whole and strong employment sectors in San Diego bode well for us. Our strong sectors include the military,
 tourism, manufacturing, universities, import-export, and firm headquarters.
 Nevin stated that the housing value declines reported in newspapers are
 exaggerated by the foreclosures, which are quickly declining. The real
 value in real estate is tied to the quality of school systems in San
 Diego. Some prized school district areas have lost little or no
 property values.

Nevin’s comments, if correct, are certainly good news for San Diego. Nevin had one last positive comment for 2009 — a great year to travel!