The Greater Chattanooga Association of Realtors and the Home Builders of Greater Chattanooga will co-host the annual economic update luncheon Wednesday, Aug. 10 at The Chattanooga Hotel.
This year’s guest speaker is Jessica Lautz, managing director of survey research and communications for the National Association of Realtors. Lautz will present the latest findings from the Profile of Home Buyers & Sellers and Profile & Generational Trends on the motivations of home buyers and sellers. The reports show that while home buyer demographics are shifting, there is a constant demand for homeownership, and role of the real estate agent in the transaction is more important than ever.
Lautz also will speak about the hurdles to homeownership such as a student loan debt among recent home buyers and the burden the debt has to younger generations of potential home buyers. Lautz will also dive into the latest research from the Remodeling Impact Report, which not only includes the cost and value of home remodeling projects, but also the increased satisfaction homeowners have in their home once completing interior and exterior improvements.
Lautz started at NAR in 2007. The core of her research focuses on demographic trends for both NAR members and housing consumers, and issues such as how housing preferences shift in an ever changing market place, the consistent trends of consumers for the desire to own a home, consumers search to find a real estate agent, and generational trends.
Lautz writes several annual studies, including the Member Profile, the Commercial Member Profile, the Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers, the Home Buyer and Seller Generational Trends report, the Investment and Vacation Home Buyers Survey, the Profile of Real Estate Firms, and more. Lautz discusses the results of these studies in blog articles, Twitter chats, webinars, and keynote presentations, and with major media outlets.
Lautz is a graduate of the American University Master’s of Public Policy Program and has undergraduate degrees in Political Science and Law and Justice from Central Washington University. She is currently pursuing her doctorate of Real Estate from Nottingham Trent University. Her thesis is “Is the Dream Still Alive? Tracking Homeownership Amid Changing Economic and Demographic Conditions.”
To register for the luncheon, visit www.gcar.net/events/event/economic-update-luncheon2.
Source: Greater Chattanooga Association of Realtors