I am beyond thrilled to welcome Leslie Appleton-Young as my guest for the 44th episode of the Bay to Bay Podcast! Leslie is the Chief Economist for the California Association of REALTORS. I’m a huge fan, and I have been listening to and watching Leslie’s forecasts on the California real estate economy for years. Many of the facts and figures I give my clients and share on my web sites come from information I gleaned listening to Leslie, so it was a huge honor for me to have her on the podcast. In this episode, we discuss:
- What is economics exactly, and what she loves about it so much.
- The relationship between the federal funds rate and mortgage rates ,and why they may not move in lockstep.
- Why housing in California is so unaffordable and what an economist would say is the solution.
- What work goes in to making her trademark real estate market forecasts
- What key metric home owners and REALTORS should look at to see which way the market is headed
- The possibility of a recession in California or the USA in the next 1-2 years
- The prospects for “blue collar” job wage growth in California
- Why the number of homes being sold in California is today so far below historical norms
- Is California currently in a housing bubble?
- What would cause a home price correction?
- The affects of the Trump tax plan on California home prices
