Dr. James F. Smith

Dr. James F. Smith, chief economist for the Society of Industrial and Office REALTORS® and a senior fellow and director of the Center for Business Forecasting at the Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise; Adjunct Professor of Finance

(hat tip to Housing Panic, December 08, 2007)

Famous last words...

Business Economics, Apr '05: There Is No Housing Bubble in the USA

"There is no evidence of a housing “bubble” in the United States and housing demand should stay strong for years to come". Three major factors lead to this conclusion. First, the 77 million baby boomers are approaching the peak home ownership ages of 65-75 (over 83.0 percent versus a national average in 2004 of 69.0 percent). Second, immigrants, a growing share of the U.S. population, tend to buy houses ten years later than people born in the United States of the same income group and family size. Third, mortgage rates are not likely to go high enough (8.0 percent or more for 30-year fixed rate mortgages) to put a crimp in demand. Despite some areas of concern, overall homeowners’ equity is at record levels above $9 trillion. Delinquencies are still less than one percent of mortgages outstanding.

And he gives Bernanke a B+ ...

Media Mentions: The Wall Street Journal quoted finance professor James F. Smith in "Economists give Bernanke a B+ for first three months on job."(May 10)

His Areas of Expertise:
- bank/banking HAHAHA
- bankruptcy HAHAHA
- consumer behavior HAHAHA
- economics: econometrics
- Federal Reserve HAHAHA
- finance
- international: economics
- international: trade
- retailing